
Class 



Book. 



THE 



SAINTS EVERLASTING REST 



OR, 



A MMAMOT 



OF THE 



blessed State, ot the Saints « 

?N THEIR 

ENJOYMENT OF GOD JN GLORY, 



EXTRACTED FROM THE WORKS OF 

MR. RICHARD BAXTER, 
BY JOHN WESLEY, M. A. 

LATE FELLOW OF LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD, 



NEW-YORK: 

PUBLISHED BY NATHAN BANGS AND THOMAS MASON, FOR 

THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

John C. Totten, printer, 

182L 






In Exchange 

JUN 2 3 1932 



■to 
THE INHABITANTS 

OP 

KIDDERMINSTER. 

My dear friends, 

IF either I or rny labours have any thing of public 
use or worth, it is wholly (though not only) yours. 
And I am convinced by Providence, that it is the will 
of God it should be so. This I clearly discerned in my 
first coming to you, in my former abode with you, and 
in the time of my forced absence from you. When I was 
separated by the miseries of the late unhappy war, I 
durst not fix in any other congregation, but lived in a 
military unpleasing state, lest I should forestall my re- 
turn to you. The offers of greater worldly accommo- 
dations were no temptation to me once to question 
whether I should leave you : your free invitation of 
my return, your obedience to my doctrine, the strong 
affection which I have; yet towards you above all people, 
and the general hearty return of love which I find from 
you; do all persuade me, that I was sent into the world 
especially for the service of your souls : and that even 
when I am dead, I might be yet a help to your salvation, 
the Lord hath forced me, quite beside my own resolu- 
tion, to write this treatise, and leave it in your hands. 
It was far from my thoughts ever to have become thus 
public, and burthened the world with any writing of 
mine ; therefore have I often resisted the request of 



IV 

my reverend brethren, and some superiors, who might 
else have commanded much more at my hands. But see 
how God over-ruleth and crosseth our resolutions ! 

Being in my quarters far from home, cast into ex- 
treme languishing (by the sudden loss of about a gallon 
of blood, after many years foregoing weakness) and 
having no acquaintance about me, nor any book but my 
Bible, and living in continual expectation of death, I 
bent my thoughts on my everlasting rest : and because 
my memory, through extreme weakness, was imperfect, 
I took my pen, and began to draw up my tfwn funeral 
sermon, or some help for my own meditations of hea- 
ven, to sweeten both the rest of my life, and my death. 
In this condition God was pleased to continue me about 
five months from home ; where being able for nothing 
else, I went on with this work, which lengthened to 
this which you here see. It is no wonder, therefore, 
if I be too abrupt in the beginning, seeing I then intend- 
ed but the length of a sermon or two. Much less may 
you wonder if the whole be very imperfect, seeing it 
was written as it were with one foot in the grave, by a 
man that was betwixt the living and dead, that wanted 
strength of nature to quicken invention or affection, and 
had no book but his Bible, while the chief part was 
finished. But how sweet is this Providence now to my 
xeview, which so happily forced me to that work of 
meditation, which 1 had formerly found so profitable to 
my soul ! and shewed me more mercy in depriving me 
of other helps, than I was aware of! and hath caused 
my thoughts to feed on this heavenly subject, which 
hath more benefited me than all the studies of my life. 

And now, dear friends, such as it is, I here offer it 
you ; and upon the knees of my soul, I offer up my 



thanks to the merciful God, who hath fetched up both 
me and it, as from the grave, for your service : who 
reversed the sentence of present death, which by the 
ablest physicians was passed upon me ! who interrupted 
my public labours for a time, that he might trace me to 
do you a more lasting service, which else I had never 
been like to have attempted ! That God do I heartily 
bless and magnify, who hath rescued me from the many 
dangers of four years war, and after so many tedious 
nights and days, and so many doleful sights and tidings, 
hath returned me, and many of yourselves, andrepriev* 
ed us now to serve him in peace ! And though men be 
ungrateful, and my body ruined beyond hope of recov- 
ery ; yet he hath made up all in the comforts I have in 
you. To the God of mercy I do here offer up my 
most hearty thanks, wha hath not rejected my prayers, 
but hath by a wonder delivered me in the midst of my 
duties : and hath supported me these fourteen years in 
a languishing state, wherein 1 have scarce had a waking 
hour free from pain : who hath above twenty several 
times delivered me when I was near death. And 
though he hath made me spend my days in groans and 
tears, and in a constant expectation of my change, yet 
he hath not wholly disabled me for his service ; and 
hereby hath more effectually subdued my pride, and 
made this world contemptible to me, and forced my dull 
heart to more importunate requests, and occasioned 
more rare discoveries of his mercy than ever I could 
have expected in a prosperous state. 

a 2 



THE 

SAINTS EVERLASTING REST- 

Hebrews iv. 9. 
There remainelh therefore a Rest to the People of God* 



CHAPTER 1. 

THIS REST DEFINED. 

XT was not only our interest in God, and actual fruition of 
him, which was lost in Adam's fall ; but all spiritual knowledge 
of him, and true disposition towards such felicity. Man hath 
now an heart too suitable to his estate ; a low state, and a low 
spirit. As the poor man that would not believe that anj r one 
man had Buch a sum as an hundred pounds, it was sofar above 
what he possessed : so man will hardly now believe, that there 
is such an happiness as once he had, much less as Christ hath 
now procured. 

The apostle bestows most of this epistle in proving to the 
Jews, that the end of all ceremonies and shadows, is ta direct 
them to Jesus Christ, the substance ; and that the rest of sab- 
baths, and Canaan, should teach them to look for a future rest. 
My text is his conclusion after divers arguments to that end ; 
a conclusion so useful to a believer, as containing the ground 
of all his comforts, the end of all his duty and sufferings, that 
you may easily be satisfied, wh}> I have made it the subject of 
my present discourse. What more welcome to men under 
afflictions, than rest ? What more welcome news to men under 
public calamities? Hearers, I pray God your entertainment of 
it, be buthalf answerable to the excellency of the subject ; and 
then you will have cause to bless God, while you live, that ever 
jou beard it, as 1 have that ever I studied it 

A & 



& THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

Let us see, I. What this rest is. 2. What these people of 
God, aud why so called. 3. The truth of this from other scrip- 
ture-arguments. 4. Why this rest must yet remain. 5* Why 
only to the people of God. 6. What use to make of it. 

And though the sense of the text includes in the word Rest, 
all that ease and safety which a soul, wearied with the burden 
of sin and suffering', and pursued by law, wrath and conscience* 
bath with Christ in this life, the rest of grace : yet because it 
chiefly intends the rest of eternal glory, I shall confine my dis- 
course to thi*. 

The rest here in question is, the most happy estate of a chris- 
tian, having obtained the end of his course or, it is the perfect 
endless fruition of God by the perfected saints, according to the 
measure of their capacity, to which their souls arrive at 
death ; and both soul and body most fully after the resurrection 
and final judgment. 

1. I caii it the estate of a christian, to note both the active 
and passive fruition, wherein a christian's blessedness lies, and 
the established continuance of both. Our title will be per- 
fect, and perfectly cleared ; ourselves, and so our capacity per- 
fected: our possession and security for its perpetuity perfect; 
our reception from God perfect ; and therefore our fruition of 
him, and consequently our happiness, will then be perfect. — 
And this is the estate which we now briefly mention, and shall 
afterwards more fully describe. 

2. I call it the most happy estate, to difference it not only 
from all seeming happiness which is to be found in the enjoy- 
ment of creatures, but also from all those beginnings, foretastes, 
and imperfect degrees which we have in this life. 

3. I call it the estate of a christian, where I mean only the 
sincere, regenerate, sanctified christian, whose soul having 1 dis- 
covered that excellency in God through Christ, closeth with 
him, and is cordially set upon him. 

4. I add, That this happiness consists in obtaining the end 
where 1 mean the ultimate and principal end, not any subor- 
dinate or less principal end. O how much doth our everlasting* 
state depend on our right judgment and estimation of our end ? 

But it is a. doubt with many, whether the attainment of this 
glory may be our end ? Nay, concluded, that it is mercenary; 
yea, that to make salvation the end of duty, is tebe a Legalist, 
and act under a covenant of works, whose tenor is s Do this and 






THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST- V 

live. 9 And many that think it may be our end, yet think it may 
not be our ultimate end ; for that should be only the glory of 
God. I shall answer these briefly. 

1. It is properly called mercenary, when we expect it as wa- 
ges for work done ; and so we may not make it our end. Other- 
wise it is only such a rnercenariness as Christ coramandeth. 
For consider what this end is ; it is the fruition of God in Christ; 
and if seeking" Christ tie mercenary, I desire to be so merce- 
nary. 

2. It is not a note of a Legalist neither. It hath been the 
ground of a multitude of late mistakes in divinity, to think, 
that * Do this and live,' is only the language of the covenant of 
works. It is true, in some sense it is ; but in other, not. The 
law of works only saith, Do this (that is, peifectly fulfil the 
whole law) and live (that is, for so doing :) But the law of grace 
aairb, 'Do this and live,' too: that is, believe in Christ, seek 
bim, obey him sincerely, as thy Lo,rd and King : forsake all, 
•suffer all things, and overcome, and by so doing, or in so do- 
ing, you shall live. If you set up the abrogated duties of the 
law again, you are a Legalist ; if ycu set up the duties of the 
Gospel in Christ's stead, in whole or in part, you err still. — 
Christ hath his place and work ; duty hath its place and work 
too: set it but in its own place, and expect from it but its own 
part, and you go right: yea more, (how unsavoury scever the 
phrase may seem) you may, so far as this comes to, trust to 
your duty and works, that is, for their own part; and many 
miscany in expecting nothing from them (as to pray, and to ex- 
pect nothing the more) that is, from Christ in a way of duty. — 
For if duty have no share, why may we not trust Christ as well 
in a way of disobedience as duty ? In a word, you must both 
use and trust duty in subordination to Christ, but neither use 
them nor trust them in co-ordination with him. So that this 
derogates nothing from Christ; for he hath done, and will do 
ail his work perfectly, and enableth his people to do theirs ; yet 
he is not properly said to do it himself; he believes not, repents 
not, but workeih these in thern ; that is, enableth and exciteth 
them to it. No man must look for more from duty than God 
hath laid upon it ; and so much we may and must. 

3. If I should quote all the scriptures that plainly prove this, . 
I should transcribe a great part of the bible: 1 will therefore 
only desire you to study what tolerable interpretation can be 



10 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

given of the following places, which will not prove that life and 
salvation may be, yea, must be the end of duty. John v. 40. 
' Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.' Matt. xii. 
1 2. * The kingdom of heaven sufTereth violence, and the violent 
take it by force. 5 Matt. vii. 13. Lukexiii. 24, * Strive to enter 
in at the strait gate.' Phil. li. 12. ' Work out your own salva- 
tion with fear and trembling.' Rom. ii. 7, 10. ' To them who 
by patient continuance in welldoing, seek for glory, and hon- 
our, and immortality, eternal life. Glory, honour, and peace, 
to every man that worketh good.' 1 Cor. ix. 24. \ So run that 
ye may obtain.' 2 Tim. ii. 12. * If we suffer with him, we shall 
reign with him.' 1 Tim. vi. 12. ' Fight the good fight of faith, 
lay hold on eternal life.' 1 Tim. vi. ltf, 19. < That they do 
good works, laying up a good foundation against the time to 
come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.' Rev. xxii. 14. 
1 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may 
have right to the tree of life, and enter in by the gates into 
the city,' Matt. xxv. 34, 35, 36. < Come ye blessed of my 
Father, inherit,' &c. 'Fori was an hungered and ye,' &c. — 
Luke xi. 23. ' Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and 
keep it.' Yea, the escaping of hell is a right end of duty to a be- 
liever. Heb. iv. 1. * Let us fear, lest a promise being left us 
of entering into his rest, any of you should come short of it- 
Luke xii. 5. 'Fear him that is able to destroy both soul and 
body in hell ; yea,' (whatsoever others say) 'I say unto you, 
fear him.' 1 Cor. ix. 27. c 1 keep under my body, and bring it 
into subjection ; lest, when I have preached to others, I myself 
should be a cast-away.' Multitudes of scriptures and scripture- 
arguments might be brought, but these may suffice to any that 
believe scripture. 

4. For those that think this rest may be our end, but not our 
ultimate end, that must be God's glory only: I will not gainsay 
them. Only let them consider, ' What God hath joined, man 
must not separate.' The glorifying himself, and the saving of 
his people (as I judge) are not two ends with God, but one ; to 
glorify his mercy in their salvation ; so I think they should be 
with us together intended: we should aim at the glory of God 
not alone considered without our salvation, but in our salvation. 
Therefore I know no warrant for putting such a question to 
ourselves, as some do, whether we could be content to be 
damned, so God were glorified ? Christ hath put no such ques- 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 11 

tiona to us, nor bid us put such to ourselves. Christ had rather 
that men would inquire after their true willingness to be sav- 
ed, than their willingness to be damned. Sure 1 am, Christ 
himself is offered to faith, in terms for the most part respecting 
the welfare of the sinner, more than bis own abstracted glory, 
fie would be received as a Saviour, mediator, redeemer, re- 
conciler, and intercessor. And all the precepts of scripture 
being backed with so many promises and threatenings, every 
one intended of God, as a motive to us, imply as much. 

5. I call a christian's happiness, the end of his course, there- 
by meaning, as Paul, 2 Tim. iv. 7< the whole scope of his life. 
For salvation may and must be our end ; and not only the end 
of our faith (though that principally) but of all our actions : — 
For as whatsoever we do must be done to the glory of God, so 
must they all be done to our salvation. 

6. Lastly, I make happiness to consist in this end obtained ; 
for it is not the mere promise of it that immediately makes per- 
fectly happy, nor Christ's mere purchase, nor our mere seek- 
ing, but the apprehending and obtaining, which sets the crown 
en the saint's head. 



CHAPTER It 

WHAT THIS REST PRE-SUPPOSETH. 

For the clearer understanding the nature of this rest, you 
must know, 
(1.) There are some things pre-supposed to it. 
(2.) Some things contained in it. 
(1.) All these things are pre-supposed to this rest. 

1. A person in motion, seeking rest. This is man here in 
the way : angels have it already ; and the devils are past hope. 

2. An end towards which he moveth for rest. This can be 
only God. He that taketh any thing else for happiness, is out 
of the way the first step. The principal damning sin is, tomake 
any thing besides God our end or rest And the first true sav- 
ing act is, to choose God only for our end and happiness. 

3. A distance is pre-supposed from this end, else there can 
be no motion towards it. This sad distance is the case of alt 



f2 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

mankind since the fall : it was our God that we principally lost, 
and were shut out of his gracious presence ; and since are said 
to be without him in the world: nay, in all men, at age here, 
is supposed, not only a distance, but also a contrary motion. — 
When Christ comes with regenerating, saving grace, he finds 
no man sitting still, but all posting to eternal ruin ; till by con- 
viction, he first brings them to a stand, and by conversion, 
turns first their hearts, and then their lives to himself. 

4. Here is pre-supposed the knowledge of the true ultimate 
end and its excellency ; and a serious intending it. For so the 
motion of the rational creature proceeded: an unknown end 
is no end ; it is a contradiction. We cannot make that our end 
which we know not ; nor that our chief end which we know 
not, or judge not to be the chief good. Therefore where this 
is not known, that God is this end ; there is no obtaining rest 
in any ordinary way, whatsoever may be in ways that by God 
are kept secret. 

5. Here is pre-supposed, not only a distance from this rest, 
but also the true knowledge of this distance. If a man have 
lost his way, and know it not, he seeks not to return : therefore 
they that never knew they were without God, never yet enjoy- 
ed him : and they that never knew they were actually in the 
way to hell, did never yet know the way to heaven : nay, there 
will not only be a knowledge of this distance, and lost estate, 
but affections answerable. Can a man find himself on the 
brink of hell, and not tremble ? Or find he hath lost his God, 
and his sou!, and not cry out, lam undone t. 

6. Here is also pre-supposed, a superior moving cause, else, 
should we all stand still, and not move a step forward toward 
our rest j no more than the inferior wheels in the Watch would 
stir, if you take away the spring, or the first mover. This is 
God. If God move us not, we cannot move. Therefore it 
is a most necessary part of our christian wisdom, to keep 
our subordination to God, and dependance on him ; to be still 
in the path where he walks, and in that way where his Spirit 
doth most usually move. 

7. Here is pre-supposed, an internal principle of life in the 
person. God moves not man like a stone, but by enduing him 
first with life, not to enable him to move without God, but 
thereby to qualify him to move himself, in subordination to 
God, the first mover. 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 1$ 

S. Here is pre- supposed also, such a motion as is rightly or- 
dered and directed toward the end. Not all motion or labour 
brings to rest. Every way leads not to this end ; but he whose 
goodness hath appointed the end, hath in his wisdom, and by 
his sovereign authority, appointed the way. Christ is the 
door, the only way to this rest. Some will allow nothing else 
to be called the way, lest it derogate from Christ. The truth 
is, Christ is the only way to the Father : yet faith is the way 
to Christ ; and gospel obedience, or faith and works, the way 
for those to walk in, that are in Christ. 

9. There is supposed also, a strong and constant motion, 
which may reach the end. The lazy world, that think all too 
much, will find this to their cost one day : they that think less 
ado might have served, do but reproach Christ for making us 
so much to do. They that have been most holy, watchful, 
painful to g^t to heaven, find, when they come to die, all too 
little : we see daily the best christians, when dying, repent 
their negligence : I never knew any then repent his holiness 
and diligence. It would grieve a man's soul to see a multitude 
©f mistaken sinners lay out their care and pains for a thing" of 
nought, and think to have^eternal salvation with a wish. If 
the way to heaven be not far harder than the world imagines, 
Christ and his apostles knew not the way : for they have told 
us, ' That the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence ; that the 
gate is strait and the way narrow, and we must strive, if we will 
enter; for many shall seek to enter, and not be able,' (which 
implies the faintness of their seeking, and that they put not 
strength to the work :) and that c the righteous themselves are 
scarcely saved.' 

1 have seen this doctrine also thrown by with contempt by 
others, who say, What ! do ye set us a working for heaven ! 
Doth our duty do any thing ? Hath not Christ done all? Is not 
this to make him a # n half Saviour, and to preach the law ? 

Am, It is to preach the law of Christ; his subjects are not 
lawless : it is to preach duty to Christ. None a more exact 
requirer of duty or hater of sin, than Christ. Christ hath done, 
and will do, all his work; and therefore is a perfect Saviour: 
but yet leaves us a work to do : he hath paid all the price, and 
left us none to pay ; yet he never intended his purchase should 
put us into absolute title to glory, in point of law, much less into 
immediate possession. He hath purchased the crown to be- 

B 



.14 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

stow, only on condition of believing, denying* all for him, suffer* 
ing with him, persevering' and overcoming. He hath purchased 
justification to bestow, only on condition of believing, yea, re- 
penting and believing : though it is Christ that enableth also to 
perform the condition. It is not a Saviour offered, but received 
also, that must save : it is not the blood of Christ shed only, 
but applied also, that must fully deliver ; nor is it applied to the 
justification or salvation of a sleepy soul. Nor doth Christ car- 
ry us to heaven in a chair of security. Our righteousness? 
which the law of works requireth, and by which it is satisfied, is 
wholly in Christ, and not one grain in ourselves : nor must we 
dare to think of patching up a legal righteousness of Christ's 
and our own together ; that is, that our doings can be the least 
part of satisfaction for our sins. But yet ourselves must per- 
sonally fulfil the conditions of the new covenant; and so have 
the perfect evangelical righteousness, or never be saved by 
Christ's righteousness. Therefore say not, it is not dutj r , but 
Christ ; for it is Christ in a way of duty. As duty cannot do it 
without Christ, so Christ will not do it without duty. 

And as this motion must be strong, so must it be constant, or 
it will fall short of rest. To begin in the spirit, and end in the 
flesh, will not bring to the end of the saints. Men as holy as 
the best of us, have fallen off. Read but the promises, Rev. ii. 
and iii. ' To him that overcometh.' Christ's own disciples 
must be commanded to continue in his love, and that by 
keeping his commandments ; and to abide in him, and his 
word in them. See John xv. 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10. 



CHAPTER III. 

WHAT THIS REST CONTAJNETH. 

There is contained in this Rest : . 

1. A cessation from motion or action. Not from all action, 
but of that which implies the absence of the end. When we 
have obtained the haven, we have done sailing : when we are 
at our journey's end, we have done with the way. Therefore 
prophesying ceaseth, tongues fail, and knowledge shall be done 
away ; that is, so far as it was imperfecta There shall be no 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. .15 

more prayer, because no more necessity, but the full enjoy- 
ment of what we prayed for. Neither shall we need to fast, 
and weep and watch any more, being out of the reach of sin 
and temptations. Nor will there be use for instructions and ex- 
hortations : preaching: is done : the ministry of man ceaseth : 
sacraments useless : the labourers called in, because the har- 
vest is gathered : the unregenerate past hope, the saints past 
fear, for ever. Much less shall there be any need of labouring 
for inferior ends, as here we do : seeing they shall all devolve 
themselves into the ocean of the ultimate end, and the lesser 
good be swallowed up in the greatest. 

2. This rest containeth a perfect freedom from all the evils 
that accompany us through our course, and which necessarily 
follow cur absence from the chief good : besides our freedom 
from those eternal flames, which the neglecters of Christ must 
endure* There is no such a thing as grief and sorrow known 
there : nor is there such a thing as a pale face, a languid body, 
feeble joints, unable infancy, decripid age, peccant humours, 
painful sickness, griping fears' consuming cares, nor whatso- 
ever deserves the name of evil. Indeed a gale of groans and 
sighs, a stream of tears, accompanied us to the very gates, and 
there bid us farewell for ever. c We did weep and lament, 
when the world did rejoice ; but our sorrow is turned into joy, 
and our joy shall no man take from us.' 

3. This rest containeth the highest degree of perfection, both 
of soul and body. This qualifies them to enjoy the glory, and 
thoroughly to partake the sweetness of it. Were the glory never 
so great, and themselves not made capable of it, it would be lit- 
tle to them. But the more perfect the appetite, the sweeter 
the food. The more musical the ear, the more pleasant the 
melody. The more perfect the soul, the more joyous those, 
joys, and the more glorious is that glory. Nor is it only sinful 
imperfection that is removed, nor only that which is the fruit of 
sin, but that which adhered to us in our pure nature. There is 
far more procured by Christ, than was lost by Adam. It is the 
misery of wicked men here, that all without them is mercy, but 
within them an heart full of sin, shuts the door against all, and 
makes them but the more miserable. When all is well within, 
then all is well indeed. Therefore will God, as a special part 
of his saints' happiness, perfect themselves as well as their con* 
tlition. 



1$ THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

4. This rest containeth, as the principal part, our nearest 
fruition of God. As all good whatsoever is comprised in God, 
and all in the creature are but drops of this ocean ; so all the glo- 
ry of the blessed is comprised in their enjoyment of God : and if 
there be any mediate joys there, they are but drops from this. 
If men and angeh should study to speak the blessedness of 
that estate, in one word, what can they say beyond this, That 
it is the nearest enjoyment of God ? Say, they have God ; and 
you say, they have all that is worth the having. O the full 
joys offered to a believer in that one sentence of Christ's ! I 
would not for all the world that verse had been left out of the 
bible ; ' Father, I will, that those whom thou hast given Me, be 
with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which 
thou hast given me.' John xvii. 24. Every word is full of life 
and joy. If the queen of Sheba had cause to say of Solomon's 
glory, ' Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants that 
stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom ;' then 
sure they that stand continually before God, and see his 
glory, and the glory of the Lamb, are somewhat more than 
happy ; to them will Christ c give to eat of the tree of life, 
which is in the midst of the paradise of God.' Rev. ii. 7. 

5. This rest containeth a sweet and constant action of all the 
powers of the soul and body in this fruition of God. But great 
will the change of our bodies and senses be, even so great, as 
now we cannot conceive. If grace makes a christian differ so 
much from what he was, that the christian could say to his 
companion, Ego non sum ego ; " 1 am not the man I was ;" how 
much more will glory make us differ ? We may then say much 
more, This is not the body 1 had, and these are not the senses 
lhad. Yet because we have no other name for them, let us 
call them senses ; call them eyes and ears, seeing and hearing : 
but conceive, that as much as a body spiritual, above the sun 
in glory, exceedeth these frail, noisome, diseased lumps of 
flesh, that we now carry about us ; so far shall our senses of 
seeing and hearing exceed these we now possess : for the 
change of the senses must be conceived proportionable to the 
change of the body. And doubtless as God advanceth our 
sense, and enlargeth our capacity : so will he advance the hap- 
piness of those senses, and nil up with himself all that capacity. 
And certainly the body should not be raised up, if it should not 
share in the glory : for as it hath shared in the obedience and 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 17 

sufferings, so shall it also do in the blessedness : and as Christ 
bought the whole man, so shall the whole partake of the ever- 
lasting* benefits of the purchase. 

And if the body shall be thus employed, O how shall the soul 
be taken up ! As its powers and capacities are greatest, so its 
actions are strongest, and its enjoyments sweetest. As the bodi- 
ly senses have their proper aptitude and action, whereby they 
receive and enjoy their objects ; so doth the soul in its own ac- 
tion enjoy its own object : by knowing, by thinking, and re- 
membering, by loving, and by delightful joying ; by these eyes 
it sees, and by these arms it embraceth. If it might be said of 
the disciples with Christ on earth, much more that behold him 
in his glory, < Blessed are the eyes that see the things that you 
see, and the ears that hear the things that you hear : for many 
princes and great ones have desired (and hoped) to see the things 
that you see, and have not seen them/ &c. Matt. xiii. 16, 17. 

Knowledge of itself is very desirable. As far as the rational 
soul exceeds the sensitive, so far the delights of a philosopher, 
in discovering the secrets of nature, and knowing the mystery 
of sciences, exceeds the delights of the glutton, the drunkard, 
and of all voluptuous sensualists whatsoever : so excellent is 
all truth. What then is their delight, who know the God of 
truth ? What would 1 not give, so that all the uncertain princi- 
ples in logic, natural philosophy, metaphysics, and medicine, 
were but certain ? And that my dull, obscure, notions of them, 
were but quick and clear ? O what then would I not perform 
or part with, to enjoy a clear and true apprehension of the most 
true God ! How noble a faculty of the soul is the understand- 
ing J It can compass the earth ; it can measure the sun, moon 3 
stars, and heaven ; it can foreknow each eclipse to a minute, 
many years before : yea, but this is the top of all its excellency, 
it can know God, who is infinite, who made all these ; a little 
here, and much more hereafter. O the wisdom and goodness 
of our blessed Lord ! he hath created the understanding with a 
natural bias to truth, and its object ; and to the prime truth as 
its prime object : and lest we should turn aside to any creature * 
he hath kept this as his own divine prerogative, not communi- 
cable to any creature, viz. to be the prime truth. 

Didst thou never look so long upon the Son of God, till thine 
eyes wercdazzled with his astonishing glory ? and did not the 
splendor of it make all things below seem black and dark to 
b2 



18 ' THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

tbee, when thou lookedst down again, especially in the days of 
suffering for Christ (when he usually appears most manifestly 
to his people ?) didst thou never see ■ one walking in the midst 
of the fiery furnace with thee, like the Son of God ? If thou 
know him, value him as thy life^ and follow on to know him ; 
and thou shalt know incomparably more than this. Or if 1 do 
but renew thy grief, to tell thee what thou once didst feel, but 
now hast lost ; I counsel thee to ' remember whence thou art 
fallen, and repent, and do the first works, and be watchful, and 
strengthen the things which remain ; and 1 dare promise thee, 
(because God hath promised) thou shalt see and know that 
which here thine eye could not see, nor thy understanding con- 
ceive. Believe me, christians, yea, believe God ; you that 
have known most of God in Christ here, it is nothing to that 
you shall know: it scarce, in comparison of that, deserves to 
be called knowledge. The difference betwixt our knowledge 
now, and our knowledge then, will be as great as that between 
our fleshly bodies now, and our spiritual bodies then. — For as 
these bodies, so that knoweldge must cease, that a more perfect 
may succeed. Our silly childish thoughts of God, which now 
is the highest we can reach to, must give place to a more man- 
ly knowledge. 

Marvel not, therefore, how it can be ' life eternal to know 
God and his Son Jesus Christ :' to enjoy God and his Christ is 
eternal life, and the soul's enjoying is in knowing. They that 
savour only of earth, and have no way to judge but by sense, 
and never were acquainted with this knowledge of God, think 
it a poor happiness to know God. Let them have health and 
wealth, and worldly delights, and take you the other. Alas, 
poor men ! they that have made trial of both, do not envy 
your happiness : O that you would come near, and taste and 
try as they have done, and then judge ; then continue in your 
former mind, if you can. For our parts we say with that know- 
ing apostle, (though the speech may seem presumptuous) 1 John 
r. 19, 20. * We know that we are of God, and the whole world 
lieth in wickedness : and we know that the Son of God is come, 
and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him 
that is true ; and we are in him that is true, in his Son Jesus 
Christ : this is the true God and eternal life.' — The Son of God 
is come to be our head and fountain of life, and hath given us an 
understanding, that the soul may be made capable to know him 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. |9 

(God) that is true, the prime truth ; and ice are brought so near 
to this enjoyment, that we are in him that is true ; we are in 
him, by being in his So?i Jesus Christ : this is the true God, and 
so the fittest object for our understanding ; and this knowing 
of him, and being in him, in Christ, is eternal life. 

And doubtless the memory will not be idle in this blessed 
work. If it be but by looking back, to help the soul to value 
its enjoyment. Our knowledge will be enlarged, not diminish- 
ed ; therefore the knowledge of things past shall not be taken 
away. From that height the saint can look b ehind him and be- 
fore him : and to compare past with present things, must need3 
raise in the blessed soul an unconceivable sense of its condi- 
tion. To stand on that mount, whence we can see the wilder- 
ness and Canaan both at once ; to stand in heaven, and look 
back on earth, and weigh them together in the balance, how 
must it transport the soul, and make it cryout, Is this the pur- 
chase that cost so dear as the blood of God ? O blessed price, 
and thrice blessed love ! Is this the end of believing ? i9 this 
the end of the Spirit's workings ? have the gales of grace blown 
me into such an harbour? is it hither that Christ bath enticed 
my soul? O blessed way, and thrice blessed end ? Is this the 
glory which the scriptures spoke of, and ministers preached of 
so much ? Now I see the gospel indeed is good tidings, even 
* tidings of great joy to all nations !' Is my mourning, my fast- 
ing, my heavy walking, groanings, complainings, come to this ? 
Are all my afflictions and fears, all Satan's temptations and the 
world's scorns, come to this ? O vile nature, that resisted such 
a blessing ! Unworthy soul ! is this the place thou earnest so 
unwilling to? was the world too good to lose ? didst thou stick 
at leaving all, denying ail, and suffering any thing for this? O 
false heart ! that had almost betrayed me to eternal flames, and 
lost me this glory ! O base flesh ! that would needs have been 
pleased, though to the loss of this felicity ! didst thou make me 
to question the truth of this glory ? didst thou draw me to dis- 
trust the Lord ? My soul, art thou not ashamed that ever thou 
didst question that love that hath brought thee hither ? that 
thou wast jealous of the faithfulness of thy Lord ? that thou sus- 
pectedst his love, when thou shouldst have only suspected thy- 
self? that thcu didst not live continually transported with thy 
Saviour's love ? and that ever thou quenchedst a motion of his 
spirit ? art thcu not ashamed of all thy hard thoughts of suc& a 



20 THE SAIXTS EVERLASTING REST. 

God? of all thy misinterpreting those providences, and repi- 
ning at those ways that have such an end ? Now thou art con- 
vinced that the ways thou calledst hard, and the cup thou call- 
cdst bitter, were necessary : that thy Lord meant thee better 
than thou wouldst believe : and that thy Redeemer was saving 
thee, as well when he crossed thy desires, as when he granted 
them ; as well when he broke thy heart, as when he bound it 
up. No thanks to thee, for this crown ; but to Jehovah and 
the Lamb forever. 

Thus as the memory of the wicked will eternally promote 
their torment, to lookback on the sin committed, the grace re- 
fused, Christ neglected, and time lost: so will the memory of 
the saints for ever promote their joys. 

But O the full, the near, the sweet enjoyment, is that of the 
afFections, love and joy ; it is near, for love is the essence of the 
soul, and love is the essence of God. ' God is love, and he that 
dwelled} in love dwelieth in God, and God in him.' The acting 
cf this affection wheresoever, carrieth much delight with it; 
especially when the object appears deserving, and the affection 
is strong* But what will it be, when perfect affections shall have 
the strongest, perfect acting upon the most perfect object? Now 
the poor soul complains, O that I could love Christ more ! but 
i cannot, alas, I cannot : yea, but then thou canst not choose but 
love him ; I had almost said, forbear if thou canst. Now thou 
knovvest little of his amiableness, and therefore lovest little : 
then thine eye will affect thy heart, and the continual viewing of 
that perfect beauty, will keep thee in continual ravishments of 
love. Now thy salvation is not perfected, nor all the mercies 
purchased, yet given in ; but when ' the topstone is set on, thou 
shalt with shoutings cry, grace, grace.' Christians, doth it now 
stir up your love, to remember all the experiences of his love ; to 
look back upon a life of mercies ? doth not kindness melt you ? 
and the sunshine of divine goodness warm your frozen hearts ? 
What will it do then, when you shall live in love, and have all 
in hirn, who is all ? O the high delights of love ! of this love ! 
■ he content that the heart findeth in it ! the satisfaction it 
brings along with it ! surely love is both work and wages. 

And if this were all, what a high favour, that God will give 
us leave to love him ! that he will vouchsafe to be embraced by 
such arms that have embraced sin before him ! But this is not 
ail, he returnetb love for love ; cay, a thousand times more, as 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING KEST. 21 

perfect as we shall be, we cannot reach his measure of love : 
christian, thou wilt then be brimful of love ; yet love as much as 
thou canst, thou shalt be ten thousand times more beloved. 
Dost thou think thou canst over- love him ? what, love more 
than love itself! were the arms of the Son of God open upon 
the cross, and an open passage made to his heart by the spear? 
and will not arms and heart be open to thee in glory ? did he 
begin to love before thou lovedst, and will he not continue now ? 
did he love thee an enemy ? thee a sinner ? thee who even 
loathedst thyself ! and own thee when thou didst disclaim thy- 
self? and will he not now unmeasurably love thee a son ? thee 
a perfect saint ? thee who returnest love for love ? Thou wast 
wont injuriously to question his love : doubt of it now if thou 
canst. As the pains of hell will convince the rebellious sinner 
of God's wrath, who would never before believe it : so the joys 
of heaven will convince thee throughly of that love which thou 
wouldst so hardly be persuaded of. He that in love wept over 
the old Jerusalem near her ruins ; with what love will he re- 
joice over the new Jerusalem in her glory ? Methinks I see 
him groaning and weeping over dead Lazarus, till he forced 
the Jews that stood by to say, * Behold how he loved him !' 
Will he not then much more, by rejoicing over us, make all 
(even the damned, if they see it) say, * behold how he loveth 
them!' 

Here is the heaven of heaven ! the fruition of God : in these 
mutual embracements of love, doth it consist. To love, and be 
beloved ; ' These are the everlasting arms that are underneath : 
his left hand is under their heads, and with his right hand doth 
he embrace them.' 

Stop here and think a while what a state this is. Is it a 
small thing to be beloved of God ? to be the son, the spouse, the 
love, the delight of the King of glory? Believe this, and think 
on it : thou shalt be eternally embraced in the arms of that love, 
which was from everlasting and will extend to everlasting ; of 
that love, which brought the Son of God's love from heaven to 
earth, from earth to the cross, from the cross to the grave, from 
the grave to glory ; that love, which was weary, hungry, tempt- 
ed, scorned, scourged, buffeted, spit upon, crucified, pierced ; 
which did fast, pray, teach, heal, weep, sweat, bjeed, die ; that 
love will eternally embrace them. When perfect created 
Jove, and most perfect uncreated love meet together^ O th % e 



%% THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

blessed meeting ! It will not be like Joseph and his brethren,- 
who lay upon one another's necks weeping : it will break forth 
into pure joy ; not a mixture of joy and sorrow : it will be lov- 
ing and rejoicing, not loving and sorrowing : yet will it make 
Pharaoh's (Satan's) court to ring with the news that Joseph's 
brethren are come ; that the saints are arrived safe at the bo- 
som of Christ, out of the reach of hell for ever. 

And now are we not left in the apostle's admiration ? — 
4 What shall we say to these things ?' Infinite love must needs 
be a mystery to a finite capacity. No wonder, if angels desire 
to pry into the mystery ; and if it be the study of the saints here, 
' to know the heighth and breadth, and length, and depth, of 
this love, though it passeth knowledge ;' this is the saints rest 
in the fruition of God by love. 

Lastly, The affection of joy hath not the least share in this 
fruition. The inconceivable complacency which the blessed 
feel in their seeing, knowing, loving and being beloved of God. 
The delight of the senses here, cannot be known by expres- 
sions, as they are felt : how much less this joy ? This is ' the 
white stone, which none knoweth but he that receiveth :' and 
if there be any joy which the stranger meddleth not with, then 
surely this, above all, is it. All Christ's ways of mercy tend 
to, and end in the saints joys. He wept, sorrowed, suffered, 
that they might rejoice ; he sendeth the spirit to be their com- 
forter : he multiplieth promises, he discovers their future hap- 
piness, that their joy might be full ; he aboundeth to them in 
mercies of all sorts : i he maketh them lie down in green pas- 
tures, and leadeth them by the still waters ;' yea, 'openeth to 
them the fountain of living waters, that their joy may be full, 
that they may thirst no more, and that it may spring up in them 
to everlasting life:' he causeth them to suffer, that he may 
cause them to rejoice : and chasteneth them, that he may give 
them rest ; and maketh them (as he did himself) * to drink of 
the brook in the way, that they may lift up the head.' Psalm 
ex. 7. And lest after all J:his they should neglect their own 
comforts, he maketh it their duty, commanding them ' to re- 
joice in him alway.' And he never brings them into so low a 
condition, wherein he leaves them not more cause of joy 
than of sorrow. And hath the Lord such a care for us here; 
where, the bridegroom being from us, we must mourn ? O! 
what will that joy be. where, the soul being perfectly prepared 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. XO 

V, and joy prepared by Christ for the soul, it shall be our 
work, our business eternally to rejoice ? 

And it seems the saints joy shall be greater than the damn- 
ed's torment: for their torment is the torment of creatures, 
■ prepared for the devil and his angels :' but our joy is the joy 
of our Lord, even our Lord's own joy shall we enter. • And 
the same glory which the Father giveth him, doth the Son give 
them,' John xvii. 22. ' And to sit down withliim in his throne^ 
even as he is set down in his Father's throne,' Rev. iii. 21. — 
Thou that now spendest thy days in sorrow, who knowest no 
garments but sackcloth, no food but the bread and water of 
afflictions, what sayest thou to this great change ? from all 
sorrow to more than all joy ? Thou poor soul, who prayest for 
joy, complainest for want of joy, then thou shalt have full joy, 
as much as thou canst hold, and more than ever thou though! - 
est on, or tby heart desired. 

And in the mean time walk carefully, watch constantly, and 
then let God measure out thy times and degrees of joy. Jt may 
be he keeps them till thou hast more need ; thou mayst better 
lose thy comfort, than thy safety ; as the joy of the hypocrite 
so the fears of the upright, are but for a moment. ' Weeping 
may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.' O 
blessed morning ! Poor drooping soul, how would it fill thee 
with joy now, if a voice from heaven should assure thee of thy 
part in these joys ! What then will thy joy be, when thy actual 
possession shall convince thee of tby title : when the angels 
shall bring thee to Christ, and when Christ shall (as it were) 
take thee by the hand, and lead thee into thy purchased posses- 
sion ! Wilt thou not be almost ready to draw back, and to say, 
What I, Lord, 1, the unworthy neglecter of thy grace ! I, the 
unworthy disesteemer of thy blood, and slighter of thy love! 
must I have this glory ? ' Make me an hired servant, I am no 
more worthy to be called a son :' but love will have it so ; there- 
fore thou must enter into his joy. 

And it is not thy joy only ? it is a mutual joy, as well as mutu- 
al love : is there such joy in heaven at thy conversion, and will 
there be none at thy glorification ? Will not the angels wel- 
come thee thither, and congratulate thy safe arrival ? Yea, it 
is the joy of Jesus Christ : for now he hath the end of his la- 
bour, suffering, dying, when we have our joys ; ' when he is glo- 
rified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe. We 



24 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING RE3T. 

are his seed, and the fruit of his soul's travail, which when be 
seeth, he will be satisfied :' he will rejoice over bis purchased 
inheritance, and his people shall rejoice in him. 

Yea, the Father himself puts on joy too, in our joy : as we 
grieve his Spirit, and weary him with our iniquities ; so he is 
rejoiced in our good. O how quickly here doth he spy a return- 
ing prodigal, even afar off! How doth he run and meet him, 
fall on his neck, and kiss him ! This is indeed a happy meet- 
ing ; but nothing to the joy of that last and great meeting. 

And now look back upon all this; I say to thee as the angel 
to John, ' What hast thou seen ?' Or if yet thou perceive not, 
draw nearer, come up higher, Come and see: dost thou fear 
thou hast been all this while in a dream r Why, These are the 
true sayings of God. Dost thou fear (as the disciples) that 
thou hast seen but a ghost instead of Christ ? a shadow instead 
of the rest ? Come near, and feel : a sshadow contains not those 
substantial blessings, nor rests upon such a sure word of prom- 
ise, as you have seen these do. Go thy way now, and tell the 
disciples, and teil the drooping souls thou meetest with, that 
thou hast, in this glass, seen heaven ; that c the Lord indeed is 
risen, and hath here appeared to thee ; and behold he is gone 
before us into rest ; and that he is now preparing a place for 
them, and will come again, and take them to himself, that 
* where he is, there they may be also.' 

But alas! my fearful heart dare scarce proceed: methinks I 
hear the Almighty's voice, saying to me, as to Elihu, Job 
xxxviii. 2. c Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words with- 
out knowledge ?' 

But pardon, O Lord, thy servant's sin : 1 have not pried into 
unrevealed things, nor curiously searched into thy counsels ; 
but indeed 1 have dishonoured thy holiness, wronged thine ex- 
cellency, disgraced thy saints' glory, by my disproportionate 
pourtraying : I will bewail from my heart that my apprehen- 
sions are so dull, my thoughts so mean, my affections so stupid, 
and my expressions so low. But I have only heard by the 
hearing of the car ; O let thy servant see thee and possess 
these joys, and then I shall ha^s more suitable conceivings, and 
shall give thee fuller glory, ' 1 have now uttered that 1 under- 
stood not ; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Yet 
I believed, and therefore spake. Remember with whom thou 
hast to do : what canst thou expect from dust, from corruption- 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 25 

but defilement ? Our foul hands will leave, where they touch, 
the marks of their uncleanness ; and most on those things that 
are most pure. * 1 know thou wilt be sanctified in them that 
come nigh thee, and before all the people thou wilt be glori- 
fied : and if thy jealousy excluded from that land of rest, thy 
servants Moses and Aaron, because they sanctified thee not 
in the midst of Israel, what then may I expect ? But though 
the weakness be the fruit of my own corruption, yet the fire 
is from -hine altar, and the work of thy commanding. I looked 
not into thine ark, nor pul forth my hand unto it without thee. 
O therefore wash away these stains also m the blood of the 
Lamb. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE FOUR GREAT PREPARATIONS TO OUR REST. 

Having thus shewed you a small glimpse of that resemblance 
of the saints rest which I had seen in the gospel glass ; it foI» 
lows, that we proceed to view a little the blessed properties of 
this rest. And why doth my trembling heart draw back ? — 
Surely the Lord is not now so inaccessible, nor the ways so 
blocked up, as when the law and curse reigned. Wherefore, 
finding the flaming sword removed, I shall look again into the 
paradise of our God. 

And first, let us consider the great preparations ; for the 
porch of this temple is exceeding glorious. Let us observe, 

1. The most glorious coming of the Son of God. 

2. His raising our bodies, and uniting them again with the 
soul. 

3. His solemn proceedings in their judgment, where they 
shall be justified before all the world. 

4. His enthroning them in glory. 

1. And well may the coming of Christ be reckoned with 
those iagredients that compound this precious rest ; for to this 
end it is intended, and to this end it is of apparent necessity. — 
For his people's sake he sanctified himself to his office : for 
their sake he came into the world, suffered, died, rose, ascend- 
ed ; and for their sake it is that he will return. To this end wili 



26 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

Christ come again to receive his people to himself, < That where 
he is } they may be also,' John xiv. 3. He that would come to 
suffer will surely come to triumph ; and he that would come to 
purchase, will surely come to possess. 

But why stayed he not with his people while he was here ? 
Why ? must not the comforter be sent ? Was not the work on 
earth done ? Must he not receive the recompense of reward, 
and enter into his glory ? Must he not take possession in our 
behalf ! Must he not go to prepare a place for us ? Must he not 
intercede with the Father, and plead his sufferings, and be filled 
with the spirit to send it forth, and receive authority to subdue 
his enemies ? Our abode here is short : if he had stayed on 
earth, what would it have been to enjoy him for a few days, and 
then die ? But he hath more in heaven to dwell among* : even 
the spirits of the just of many generations, there made perfect. 
O what a day will that be ! when we who have been kept pris- 
oners by the grave, shall be fetched out by the Lord himself; 
when Christ shall come from heaven to plead with his enemies, 
and set his captives free ? It will not be such a coming as his 
first was in meanness, and poverty, and contempt : he will not 
come to bespit upon, and buffeted, and scorned, and crucified 
again : he will not come, O careless world ! to be slighted by 
you any more. And yet that coming which was in infirmity 
and reproach for our sakes, wanted not its glory. If the angels 
of heaven must be the messengers of that coming, as being 
Tidings rfjoy to all people: and the heavenly host must accom- 
pany his nativity, and must praise God with that solemnity : 
O with what shoutings will angels and saints at that day pro- 
claim, fc Glory to God, and peace and good- will towards men !' 
If the stars of heaven must lead men to come to worship a child 
in a manger, how will the glory of his next appearing constrain 
all the world to acknowledge his sovereignty ! If when he was 
in the form of a servant, they cry out, ' What manner of man is 
this, that both wi ad and sea obey him! 5 What shall they say 
when they shall see him coming in his glory, and the heavens 
and earth obey him ? ' Then shall appear the sign of the Son of 
man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, 
and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of hea- 
ven with power and great glory. 

This coming of Christ is frequently mentioned in the proph- 
ets, as the great support of his people's spirits till then. And 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 27 

whenever the apostles would quicken to duty, or encourage to 
patient waiting", they usually do it by mentioning Christ's com- 
ing'. Why then do we not use more this cordial consideration, 
whenever we want support and comfort ? Shall the wicked 
with inconceivable horror behold him, and cry out, Yonder is 
he whose blood we neglected, whose grace we resisted, 
whose counsels we refused, whose government we cast off! — 
And shall not the saints, with inconceivable gladness cry out, 
Yonder is he whose blood redeemed us, whose spirit cleansed 
us ! Yonder comes he in whom we trusted, and now we see he 
hath not deceived our trust : he for whom we long waited, and 
now we see we have not waited in vain ! O how should it then 
be the character of a christian, ' To wait for the Son of God 
from heaven whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus which 
delivered us from the wrath to come!' 1 Thess. i. 10. And 
with all faithful diligence to prepare to meet our Lord with joy. 
And seeing his coming is of purpose ; to be glorified in his saints, 
and admired in all them that believe ;' what thought should 
glad our hearts more than the thought of that day ? A little 
while indeed we have not c seen him, but yet a little while and 
we shall see him,' for he hath said, ' I will not leave you com- 
fortless but will come unto you.' We were comfortless should 
he not come. And while we daily gaze and look up to heaven 
after him, let us remember what the angel said, c This same 
Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in 
like manner, as3 r e have seen him go into heaven.' Let every 
christian that heareth and readeth, say, Come ; and our Lord 
himself saith, ' Surely I come quickly, amen, even so, come. 
Lord Jesus.' 

The second stream that leadeth to paradise, is that great 
work of Jesus Christ, in raising our bodies from the dust, unit- 
ing them again unto the soul. What, saith the atheist, shall 
all these scattered bones and dust become a man ? Thou fool, 
dost thou dispute against the power of the Almighty ! Dost thou 
object difficulties to infinite strength ? Thou blind mole! thou 
little piece of creeping, breathing clay ! But come thy way, let 
me take thee by the hand, and with reverence (as Elihu) plead 
for God; and for that power whereby I hope to arise. Seest 
thou this great massy body of the earth ? upon what foundation 
doth it stand ? Seest thou this vast ocean of waters ? what limits 
them, and why do they not overflow and drown the earth ? 



. 28 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

whence is that constant ebbing and flowing of her tides ? wilt 
thou say from the moon, or other planets ? and whence have 
they that influence ? Must thou not come to a cause of causes, 
that can do all things ? And doth not reason require thee, to 
conceive of that cause as a perfect intelligence, and voluntary 
agent, and not such a blind worker and empty notion as that no« 
thing is, which thou callest nature ? What thinkest thou ? Is not 
that power able to effect thy resurrection, which doth all this ? 
Is it not as easy to raise the dead, as to make heaven and earth, 
and ail out of nothing ? But if thou be unpersuadable, all I say 
to thee more is as the prophet to the prince of Samaria, 2 Kings 
vii. 19. * Thou shalt see that day with thine eyes, but little to 
thy comfort ; for that whieh is the day of relief to the saints, 
shall be a day of revenge on thee.' ♦ 

Come then, fellow-christians, let us commit these carcases to 
the dust : that prison shall not long contain them. Let us lie 
down in peace and take our rest : it will not be an everlasting 
night, or endless sleep. What if we go out of the troubles and 
stirs of the world, and enter into those chambers of dust, and 
the doors be shut upon us, and we hide ourselves, as it were, 
for a little moment 'until the indignation be overpast?' Vet, 
* behold the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabi- 
tants of the earth for their iniquity : and then the earth shall 
disclose us, and the dust shall hide us no more. As sure as we 
awake in the morning, when we have slept out the night, so 
sure shall we then awake. 

Lay down then cheerfully this lump of corruption : thou shall 
undoubtedly receive it again in incorruption. Lay down 
freely this terrestrial, this natural body; thou shalt receive 
it again a celestial, a spiritual body. Though thou lay it 
down with great dishonour, thou shalt receive it in glory : 
and though thou art separated from it through weakness, it 
shall be raised again in mighty power. When the trumpet of 
God shall sound the call, « Come away, rise ye dead :' who shall 
then stay behind ? Who can resist the powerful command of 
our Lord ? When he shall call to the earth and sea, « O earth, 
O sea, give up thy dead :' the first that shall be called are the 
saints that sleep ; and then the saints that are alive shall be 
changed. For c they which are alive, and remain till the com- 
ing of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep. For 
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 2& 

the voice of the arch-angel, and with the trump of God ; and 
the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then they which are alive 
and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the 
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air ; and so shall we ever be 
with the Lord.' Triumph now, O Christian ! in these promi- 
ses ; thou shalt shortly triumph in their performance : for this is 
the day that the Lord will make ; ' We shall be glad and rejoice 
therein.' The grave that could not keep our Lord, cannot keep 
us : he arose for us, and by the same power will cause us to 
arise. c For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again : even 
so them also which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him.' 
Therefore let our hearts be glad, and our glory rejoice, and our 
flesh also rest in hope ; for he will not leave us in the grave, nor 
suffer us still to see corruption. Yea, * therefore let us be 
stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the 
Lord, for as much as we know our labour is not in vain in the 
Lord.' 1 

The third part of this prologue to the saints rest, is the solemn 
process at their judgment, where they shall first themselves be 
justified ; and then with Christ judge the world. All the world 
must there appear, young and old, of all estates and natious> 
that ever were from the creation to that day. The judgment 
shall be set, and the books opened, and the book of life produ- 
ced : ' and the dead shall be judged out of those things which 
were written in the books, according to their works ; and who- 
soever is not found written m the book of life, is cast into the 
lake of fire.' O terrible ! O joyful day ! Terrible to those that 
have not watched, but forgot the coming of their Lord ! joyful 
to the saints, whose waiting and hope was to see this day ! — 
Then shall the world behold the goodness and severity of the 
Lord ; on tbem who perish, severity ; but to his chosen, good- 
ness. When every one must give account of his stewardship : 
and every talent of time, health, wit, mercies, affliction", means, 
warnings, must be reckoned for. When the sins of youth, and 
those which they had forgotten, and their secret sins shall be 
laid open before angels and men : when they shall see all their 
friends, wealth, old delights, all their confidence and false hopes 
forsake them. W T hen they shall see the Lord Jesus whom they 
neglected, whose word they disobeyed, whose ministers they 
abused, whose servants they hated, now sitting to judge them ; 
when their own consciences shall cry out against them, and 
c 2 



30 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST, 

call to their remembrance all their misdoings. Remember- 
at such a time, such or such a sin ; at such a time, Christ sued 
hard for thy conversion : the minister pressed it home to thy 
heart, thou wast touched to the quick with the word ; thou 
didst purpose and promise returning, and yet thou didst cast oft' 
all. O which way will the wretched sinner look ! O who can 
conceive the thoughts of his heart I Now the world cannot help 
him; his old companions cannot help him ; the saints neither 
can nor will ; only the Lord Jesus can : but there is the mise- 
ry, he will not : nay, without violating the truth of his word, 
he cannot : though otherwise, in regard of his absolute power, 
he might. The time was, sinner, when Christ would, and you 
would not; and now, fain would you, and he will not. What 
then remains but to cry to the mountains, c Fall on us ; and the 
hills cover us from the presence of him that sits upon the 
throne !' But all in vaio ! for thou hast the Lord of mountains 
and hills for thine enemy, whose voice they will obey, and not 
thine. Sinner, make not light of this ; for as thou Iivest (ex- 
cept a thorough change prevent it) thou shalt shortly, to thy 
inconceivable horror, see that day. 

Poor careless sinner, 1 did not think here to have said so 
much to thee : but if these lines fall into thy hands, * I charge 
thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge 
the quick and the dead at his appearing, and his kingdom ;' 
that thou make haste and get alone, and set thyself sadly to 
ponder these things. Ask thy heart, is this true, or is it not ? 
Is there such a day, and must I see it ? What do I then ! Is it 
not time, full time, that I had made sure of Christ and comfort 
long ago ? Should I sit still another day, who have lost so ma- 
ny ? Friend, J profess to thee from the word of the Lord, that 
of all thy sweet sins, there will then be nothing left, but the 
sting in thy conscience, which will be never out through all 
eternity. 

But why tremblest thou, O gracious soul ! He that would not 
overlook one Lot in Sodom ; nay, that could do nothing till 
be went forth ; will he forget thee at that day ? t Thy Lord 
knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to re- 
serve the unjust to the day of judgment to be punished : he 
knoweth how to make the same day the greatest terror to his 
foes, and yet the greatest joy to his people. c There is no con* 
demnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST, $1 

the flesh, but after the spirit.' And, ' who shall lay aDy thing 
to the charge of God's elect V Shall the law? Why, ' whatso- 
ever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law ; but 
we are not under the law, but under grace ; for the law of the 
spirit of life, which is in Christ Jesus, hath made us free from 
the law of sin and death.' Or shall conscience ? We were 
long ago justified by faith, and so hare peace with God, and 
have our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience : and the 
Spirit bearing witness with our spirits, that we are the children 
of God. It is God that justifieth, who shall condemn?' If our 
judge condemn us not, who shall ? He that said to the adulter- 
ous woman, c Hath no man condemned thee ? Neither do I 
condemn thee ;' He will say to us, (more faithfully than Peter 
to him) 'Though all men deny thee, or condemn thee, I wifl 
not. Thou hast confessed me before men, and I will confess 
thee before my Father and the angels in Heaven.' 

What inexpressible joy may this afford a believer ? Our dear 
Lord shall be our judge. Will a man fear to be judged by his 
dearest friend, by a brother, by a father, or a wife by her own 
husband ? Did he come down, and suffer, and weep, and bleed, 
and die for thee ; and will he now condemn thee ? Was he 
judged and condemned, and executed in thy stead, and now 
will he condemn thee ? Hath it cost him so dear to save thee ! 
and will he now destroy thee? Hath he done the most of the 
work already, in justifying, preserving and perfecting thee? 
and will he now undo all again ? O what an unreasonable sin is 
unbelief, that will charge our Lord with such absurdities ! 
Well then, fellow-christians, let the terror of that day be never 
so great, our Lord can mean no ill to us in all. Let it make the 
devils tremble ; and the wicked tremble ; but it shall make us 
leap for joy. And it must needs affect us deeply with the sense 
of our mercy and happiness, to behold the contrary condition of 
others. To see most of the world tremble with terror, while we 
triumph with joy : to see them thrust into hell, when we are pro- 
claimed heirs of the kingdom ; to see our neighbours that lived 
in the same towns, came to the same congregations, dwelt in the 
same houses, and were esteemed more honourable in the world 
than ourselves ; now so differenced from us, and by the searcher 
of hearts eternally separated. This, with the great magnificence 
and dreadfulness of the day, doth the apostle pathetically ex- 
press, in 2 Thes. i. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. J It is a righteous thing with 



32 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING RE&T. 

God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you ; and 
to you who are troubled, rest with us; when the Lord Jesus 
shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flam- 
ing" fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and 
obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be 
punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the 
Lord and from the glory of his power.' And now is not here 
enough to make that day a welcome day, and the thought of it 
delightful to us? But yet there is more. We shall be so far 
from the dread of that judgment, that ourselves shall become 
the judges. Christ will take his people, as it were into com- 
mission with him ; and they shall sit and approve his righteous 
judgment. 

' Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world P 
]N"ay, 'Know you not that we shall judge angels?' Surely, 
were it not the word of Christ that speaks it, this advance- 
ment would seem incredible, yet even Enoch, the seventh from 
Adam, prophesied of this ; saying, 'Behold the Lord cometh 
with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, 
and convince all that are ungodly among them, of their ungod- 
ly deeds, which thev haveuDgodly committed ; and of all their 
hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.' 
Jude 14, &c. Thus shall the saints be honoured, and the 
1 righteous have dominion in the morning.' O that the careless 
world were ' but wise to consider this,' and ' that they would 
remember their latter end!' That they would be now of the 
same mind, as they will be when they shall see the ' heavens 
pass away with a great noise, and the elements melt with fer- 
vent heat ; the earth also and the tvorks that are therein be 
burnt up !' When all shall be on fire about their ears, and ail 
earthly glory consumed. For ' the heavens and the earth 
which are now by the same word are kept in store, reserved 
unto fire against the day of judgment, and perdition of nngodJy 
men. Seeing then all these things shall be dissolved, what 
manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and 
godliness ; looking for, and hasting to the coming of the day of 
God; wherein the Leavens being on fire, shall be dissolved, 
and the elements melt with fervent heat.' 

The fourth antecedent to the saints advancement is, their 
solemn coronation, and receiving into the kingdom. For as 
Christ, their head, is anointed both king and priest j so oiidc : 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 33 

him are his people made unto God both kings and priests : ' To 
reign and to offer praises for ever,' Rev. v. 10. * The crown of 
righteousness, which was laid up for them, shall by the Lord, 
the righteous judge, be given them at that day,' 2 Tim. iv. 8. 
* They have been faithful to the death, and therefore shall re- 
ceive the crown of life :' and according to the improvement of 
their talents here, so shall their rule and dignity be enlarged* 
So that they are not dignified with empty titles, but real do- 
minions. For ' Christ will take them and set them down with 
himself, in his own throne ; and will give them power over the 
nations, even as he received of his Father. And will give them 
the morning star.' The Lord himself will give them posses- 
sion with these applauding expressions : ' Well done, good and 
faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few things, 1 
will make thee ruler over many things ; enter thou into the joy 
of thy Lord.' And with this solemn and blessed proclamation 
shall he enthrone them ; * Come, ye blessed of my father, in- 
herit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the 
world.' Every word is full of life and joy. [' Come.'] This is 
the holding forth of the golden sceptre; to warrant our ap- 
proach unto this glory. Come now as near as you will : fear 
not the Bethshemites judgment : for the enmity is utterly taken 
away. This is not such a ' Come' as we were wont to hear, 
c Come, take up your cross and follow me :' though that was 
sweet, yet this is much more so. [' Ye blessed.'] Blessed in- 
deed, when that mouth shall so pronounce us. For though the 
world hath accounted us accursed, yet certainly those that he 
blesseth are blessed : and those whom he curseth only, are 
cursed : and his blessing shall not be revoked. But he hath 
blessed us, and we shall be blessed. [' Of my Father. 5 ] Bless- 
ed in the Father's love as well as the Son's : for they are one : 
the Father hath testified his love, in sending Christ and ac^ 
cepting his ransom ; as the Son hath also testified his. [' In- 
herit.'] No longer bondmen, nor servants only, nor children 
under age, who differ not in possession, but only in the title 
from servants : but now, we are l heirs of the kingdom, co- 
heirs with Christ.' [' The kingdom.'] No less than the king- 
dom ! Indeed to be King of kings, and Lord of lords, is our 
Lord's own title : but to be kings and reign with him, is ours : 
the fruition of this kingdom, is as the fruition of the light of the 
sun, each hath the whole, and the rest never the less. [' Pre- 



34 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

pared for you.'] God is the Alpha, as well as the Omega of our 
blessedness. Eternal love hath laid the foundation. He pre- 
pared the kingdom for us, and then prepared us for the king- 
dom. This is the preparation of his counsel; for the execu- 
tion whereof Christ was yet to make a further preparation. 
[' For you.'] Not for believers only in general, but for you in 
particular. [' From the foundation of the world.'] Not only 
from the promise after Adam's fall, but from eternity - 

But a difficulty ariseth in our way. In what sense is our im- 
provement of our talent, our well doing, our overcoming, our 
harbouring, visiting, feeding Christ in his little ones, alleged as 
a reason of our coronation and glory ? I3 it not the purchased 
possession, and mere fruit of Christ's blood ? If every man must 
be judged according to his works, and receive according to 
what they have done in the flesh, whether good or evil ; if God 
* will render to every man according to his deeds,' Rom. ii. 6, 7. 
and give eternal life to all men, if they patiently continue in 
well-doing- ; if he will give right to the tree of life, Rev. xxii. 
14. and entrance into the city, to the doers of bis command- 
ments ; and if this bst absolving sentence be the completing of 
our justification ; and so 'the doers of the law be justified,' 
Rom. ii. 13. then what is become of free grace ? or justification 
by faith only ? of the sole righteousness of Christ to make us 
accepted? I answer, 

1. Let not the names of men draw thee one way or other, nor 
make thee partial in searching for the truth: dislike the men 
for ti»eii unsound doctrine ; but call not doctrine unsound, be- 
cause it is theirs : nor sound because of the repute of the writer. 

2. Know this, that as an unhurnbled soul is far apter to give 
too much to duty and personal righteousness, than to Christ ; 
so an humble self-denying christian is as likely to err on the 
other hand, in giving less to duty than Christ hath given, and 
laying all the work from himself on Christ, for fear of robbing 
Christ of the honour ; and so much to look at Christ without 
him, and think he should look at nothing in himself; that he for- 
gets Christ within him. 

3. Our giving to Christ more of the work than scripture doth, 
or rather our ascribing it to him out of the scripture way, doth 
but dishonour, and not honour him ; and depress, but not exalt 
bis free grace ; while we deny the inward sanctifying work of 



j THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 35 

his spirit, and extol his free justification, which are equal fruits 
of his merit, we make him an imperfect Saviour. 

4. But to arrogate to ourselves any part of Christ's preroga- 
tive, is most desperate of all, and no doctrine more directly 
overthrows the gospel almost, than that of justification by the 
merits of our own, or by works of the law. 

And thus we have seen the christian safely landed in para- 
dise ; and conveyed honourably to his rest. Now let us a little 
further view those mansions, consider his privileges, and see 
whether there be any glory like unto this glory. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE EXCELLENCIES OF OUR REST. 

Let us see more immediately from the pure fountain of the 
scriptures, what further excellencies this rest affordeth. And 
the Lord hide us in the clefts of the rock, and cover us with 
the hands of indulgent grace, while we approach to take this 
view. 

And first, it is a most singular honour of the saint's rest, to be 
called the purchased possession ; that it is the fruit of the blood 
of the Son of God : yea, the chief fruit : yea, the end and per- 
fection of all the fruits of that blood. Surely love is the most 
precious ingredient in the whole composition ; and of all the 
flowers that grow in the garden of love, can there be brought 
one more sweet than this blood ? Greater love than this there i9 
not, to lay down the life of the lover. And to have this our 
Redeemer ever before our eyes, and the liveliest sense and 
freshest remembrance of that dying bleeding love still upon 
our souls ; O how will it fill our souls with perpetual ravish- 
ments, to think that in the streams of this blood, we have swam 
through the violence of the world, the snares of Satan, the se- 
ducements of the flesh, the curse of the law, the wrath of an of- 
fended God, the accusations of a guilty conscience, and the 
doubts and fears of an unbelieving heart, and are passed through 
all and arrived safely at the breast of God ! Now we are stu- 
pified with vile and senseless hearts, that can hear all the story 
of this love, and read all the sufferings of love ; and all with 



36 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

dulness, and unafFeetedness. He cries to us, « Behold and see, 
is it nothing to you, O all ye that pass by ? is there any sorrow 
like unto my sorrow ?' And we will scarce hear. or regard the 
voice ; or turn aside to view the wounds of him who healed our 
wounds at so dear a rate. But oh! then our perfected souls 
will feel as well as hear, and with feeling apprehensions flame 
in love for love. Now we set his picture wounded and dying 
before our eyes, but can get it no nearer our hearts, than if we 
believed nothing of what we read. But then when the ob- 
structions between the eye and the understanding are taken 
away, and the passage opened between the head and heart, 
surely our eyes will everlastingly affect our heart ! And while 
we view with one eye our slain revived Lord, and with the 
other eye'our lost recovered souls, these views will eternally 
pierce us, and warm our very souls. And those eyes through 
which folly hath so often stolen into our hearts, let in the love 
of our dearest Lord for ever. 

We shall then leave 'hese hearts of stone and rock behind us, 
and the sin that here so close besets us, and the sottish ud kind- 
ness that followed us so long, shall not be able to follow us into 
glory. But we shall behold, as it were, the wounds of love, 
with eyes and hearts of love for ever. Now his heart is open 
to us, and ours shut to him : but when his heart shall be open, 
and our hearts open, oh the blessed congress that will then be ? 
What a passionate meeting is there between our new-risen 
Lord, and the first sinful woman that he appears to ! How doth 
love struggle for expressions ? and the straitened fire shut up in 
the breast, strive to break forth ? Mary ! saith Christ : Master ! 
saith Mary : and presently she clasps about his feet, having her 
heart as near to his heart as her hands were to his feet. What 
a meeting of love then will there be, between the newly glo- 
rified saint, and the glorious Redeemer ! But I am here at a 
loss, my apprehensions fail me, and fall too short* Only this 
1 know, it will be the singular praise of our inheritance, that it 
was bought with the price of that blood ; and the singular joy 
of the saints, to behold the purchaser and the price, together 
with the possession : neither will the views of the wounds of 
love renew our wounds or sorrow : he whose first words after 
his resurrection were to a great sinner, ' Woman, why weep- 
est thou ?' knows how to raise love and joy by all those views, 
without raising any cloud of sorrow. If a dying friend deliver 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 3/ 

but a token of his love, how carefully do we preserve it ? and 
still remember him when we behold it, as if his own name were 
written on it ? And v, ill not then the death and bloud of our 
Lord everlastingly sweeten our possessed glory? Well then, 
christians, as you use to do in your books, and on your goods, 
to write down the price they cost you : so on your righteous- 
ness, and on your glory, write down the price, The precious 
blood of Christ. 

Yet understand this rightly : not that this highest glory was in 
the strictest sense purchased, so as that it was the most immedi- 
ate effect of Christ's deaih : we must take heed that we con- 
ceive not of God as a tyrant, who so delighteth in cruelty, as to 
exchange mercies for stripes, God was never so pleaded with 
the sufferings of the innocent, much less of his Son, as to sell 
his mercy properly for their sufferings But the sufferings of 
Christ were primarily and immediately to satisfy justice, and to 
bear what was due to the sinner, and so to restore him to the 
life he lost, and the happiness he fell from : but this dignity, 
which surpassethtbe first, is as it were, from the redundancy 
of his merit, or a secondary fruit of his death- The work of his 
redemption so well pleased the Father, that he gave him power 
to advance his chosen to a higher dignity than they fell from ; 
and to give them the glory which was given to himself; and all 
this according to the good pleasure of his own will. 

2. The second pearl in t^e saint's diadem, is, that it is free. 
This seemelh as Pharaoh's second kine, c to devour the former. 5 
But the seeming discord, it but a pleasing diversity which con- 
stitutes the melody. These two attributes purchased and free, 
are the two chains of gold, which make up the wreath for the 
head of the pillars in the temple of God. It was dear to Christ, 
but free to us. When Christ was to buy, silver and gold were 
nothing worth ; prayers and tears could not suffice ; nor any 
thing below his blood ; but when we come (o buy, our buying 
is but receiving : we have it freely, c without money and with- 
out price.' Nor do the gospel-conditions make it the less free ; 
if the gospel-conditions had been such as are the laws, or pay- 
ment of the debt required at our hands ; the freeness then 
^vere more questionable. Yea, if God had said to us, Sinners, 
if you will satisfy my justice for one of your sins, I will forgive 
you all Ike rest, it would have been a hard condition on our 

D 



38 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

part, and the grace of the covenant not so free, as our disabili- 
ty doth require. But if all the condition be our cordial accept- 
ation, surely we deserve not the name of purchasers. Thank- 
fully accepting of a free acquittance, is no paying of the debt. 
If life be offered to a condemned man, upon condition that he 
shall not refuse the offer, the favour is nevertheless free. — 
Nay, though the condition were, that he should beg, and wait 
before he have his pardon, and take him for his Lord who hath 
thus redeemed him, this is no satisfying the justice of the law : 
especially when the condition is also given by God ; Surely 
then here all is free : if the Father freely give the Son, and the 
Son freely pay the debt ; and if God freely accept that way of 
payment, when he might have required it of the principal ; and 
if both Father and Son freely offer us the purchased life upon 
those fair conditions; and if they also freely send the Spirit to 
enable us to perform those conditions, then what is here that is 
not free ? O the everlasting admiration that must needs sur- 
prise the saints to think of this freeness! What did the Lord 
see in me, that he should judge me meet for such a state ? that 
1 who was but a poor despised wretch, should be clad in the 
brightness of this glory ? that I, a silly, creeping worm, should 
be advanced to this high dignity ? He that durst not lift up his 
eyes to heaven, but stood afar off smiting his breast, and cry- 
ing, ' Lord be merciful to me a sinner !' now to be lifted up to 
heaven himself! He who was wont to write his name in Brad- 
ford's style, the unthankful, the hard hearted, the unworthy sin- 
?ier ! and was wont to admire that patience could bear so long, 
and justice suffer him to live : sure he will admire at this alter- 
ation, when he shall find by experience, that unworthiness 
could not hinder his salvation, which he thought would have 
bereaved him of every mercy. Ah ! christian, there is no talk 
of our worthiness or unworthiness. If worthiness were our 
condition for admittance, we might sit down with St. John, and 
weep, ' Because none in heaven or on earth is found worthy. 
But the lion of the tribe of Judah is worthy, and bath prevail- 
ed ; and by that title must we hold the inheritance.' We shall 
offer there the offering that David refused, < even praise for 
that which cost us nothing.' Here ourcommission runs, ' free- 
ly ye have received, freely give.' But Christ hath dearly re- 
ceived, yet freely gives. Yet this is not all. If it were only 
for nothing, and without our merit, the wonder were great : 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. od 

but it is moreover against our merit, and against our long en- 
deavouring our own ruin. The* broken heart that hath known 
the desert of sin, doth both understand and feel what 1 say. 
What an astonishing thought it will be, to think oftheun- 
measurable difference between our deservings and our re- 
ceivings ! between the state we should have been in, and the 
state we are in ! to look down upon hell, and see the vast dif- 
ference that free grace hath made betwixt us and them! to 
see the inheritance there, which we were born to, so different 
from that which we are adopted to ! Oh ! what pangs of love 
will it cause within us, to think, yonder was the place that sin 
would have brought me to; but this is it that Christ hath 
brought me to ! Yonder death was the wages of my sin ; but 
this ' eternal life is the gift of God, through Jesus Christ my 
Lord.' Doubtless this will be cur everlasting admiration, that 
so rich a crown should fit the head of so vile a sioner! that 
such high advancement, and such long unfruitfulness and un- 
kindness can be the state of the same persons ! and that such 
vile rebellions can conclude in such most precious joys ! But 
no thanks to us : nor to any of our duties and labours, much 
less to our neglects and laziness ; we know to whom the praise 
is due, and must be given for ever. And indeed to this very 
end it was, that infinite wisdom did cast the whole design of 
man's salvation into the mould of PURCHASE and FREE- 
NESS, that the love and joy of man might be perfected, and 
the honour of grace most highly advanced : that the thought of 
merit might neither cloud the one, nor obstruct the other ; and 
that on these two hinges the gates of heaven might turn. So 
then let [DESERVED] be written on the door of hell, but oa 
the door of heaven and life, [THE FREE GIFT.] 

A third comfortable adjuoct of this rest is, that it is the fel- 
lowship of the blessed saints and angels of God. Not so singu- 
lar will the christian be, as to be solitary. Though it be pro- 
per to the saints only, yet is it common to all the saints. For 
what is it, but an association of blessed spirits in God ? A cor- 
poration of perfected saints, whereof Christ is the head ? The 
communion of saints completed? For those that have prayed, 
and fasted, and wept, and watched, and waited together ; now 
to enjoy, and praise together, methinks should much advance 
their pleasure. He who mentioueth the qualifications of our 
happiness, of purpose that our joy may be full, and maketh so 



40 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

oft mention of our conjunction in his praises, sure doth hereby 
intimate to us, that this will be some advantage to our joys. 
Certain 1 am oi* this, fellow-christians, that as we have been to- 
g-ether in labour, duty, danger and distress, so shall we be in 
the great recompence : and as we have been scorned and des- 
pised, so shall we be crowned and honoured together ; and we 
who have gone through the day of sadness, shall enjoy together 
that day of gladness. And those who have been with us in 
persecution and prison, shall be with us also in that place of 
consolation. When 1 look in the faces of the people of God, 
and believingly think of this day, what a refreshing thought is 
it ! Shall we not there remember our fellowship in duty and in 
sufferings? How oft our groans made as it were one sound/ 
our tears but one stream, and our desires but one prayer? 
And now all our praises shall make up one melody ; and all 
our churches one church ; and all ourselves but one body ; for 
we shall be one in Christ, even as he and the Father are one. 
it is true, we must be very careful that we look not for that in 
the saints, which is alone in Christ, and that we give them not 
his prerogative ; nor expect too great a part of our comfort in 
the fruition of them : we are prone enough to this kind of idol- 
atry. But yet he who commands us so to love them now, will give 
us leave in the same subordination to himself to love them then, 
when himself hath made them much more lovely. And if we 
may love them, we shall surely rejoice in them ; for love cannot 
stand without an answerable joy. If the forethought of sitting 
down with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in 
the kingdom of God, may be our lawful joy ; then how much 
more that real sight and actual possession ! It cannot but 
be comfortable to me to think of that day, when 1 shall join 
with Moses in his song, with David in his psalms of praise, 
and with all the redeemed in the s song of the Lamb for ever.' 
When we shall see Enoch walking with God ; Noah enjoying 
the end of his singularity : Joseph, of his integrity ; Job, of his 
patience ; Ilezekiah, of his uprightness ; and all the saints the 
end of their faith. O happy day, when I shall depart out of this 
crowd and sink and go to that same council of souls ! T know 
that Christ is All in All, and that it is the presence of God that 
maketb heaven to be heaven. But yet it much sweeteneth 
the thoughts of that place to me, to Temember that there are 
such a multitude of my most dear and precious friends in 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 41 

Christ : f with whom I took sweet counsel, and with whom I 
went up to the house of God, who walked with me in the fear 
of God, and integrity of their hearts:' In the face of whose 
conversation there was written the name of Christ : whose 
sensible mention of his excellencies hath made my heart to 
burn within me. To think such a friend that died at such a 
time, and such a one at another time, and that all these are en- 
tered into rest : and we shall surely go to them. It is a ques- 
tion with some, Whether we shall know each other in heaven 
or no ? Surely, there shall no knowledge cease which now we 
have ; but only that which implieth our imperfection. And 
what imperfection can this imply ? Nay our present knowledge 
shall be increased beyond belief: it shall indeed be done away, 
but as the light of the stars is done away by the rising of the 
sun ; which is more properly doing away our ignorance than 
our knowledge ; indeed we shall not know each other after the 
flesh; but by the image of Christ, and spiritual relation, and 
former faithfulness in improving our talents, beyond doubt, we 
shall know and be known. Nor is it only our old acquaint- 
ance, but all the saints of all ages, whose faces in the flesh we 
never saw, whom we shall there both know and comfortably 
enjoy. Yea, and angels as well as saints will be our blessed 
acquaintance. Those whcjiow are willingly ministerial spirits 
for our good, will willingly then be our companions in joy for 
the perfecting of our good : and they who had such joy in hea- 
ven for our conversion, will gladly rejoice with us in our 
glorification. I think, christian, this will be a more honoura- 
ble assembly than ever you have beheld ; and a more happy 
society than you wereever of before. Then we shall truly say 
as David, 'lama companion of all them that fear thee : when 
we are come to mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, 
the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of 
angels ; to the general assembly, and church of the first-born, 
.which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and 
to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the media- 
tor of the new covenant.' So then 1 conclude: This is one 
singular excellency of the rest of heaven. ' That we are fel- 
low citizens with the saints, and of the household of God. 5 

4. Another excellent property of our rest will be, that the 
oys of it are immediately from God. ' We shall see God face 
to face, and stand continually in his presence; and conse- 



42 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

quently derive our life and comfort immediately from him.— 
Whether God will' make use of any creatures for our service 
then ; or if any, of what creatures, and what use, is more than 
I yet know: but it is certaiD, that at least, our greatest joys 
will be immediate, if not all. Now we have nothing at all im- 
mediately, but at the second or third hand, or how many who 
knows ? From the earth, from man, from the sun and moon, 
from the influence of the planets, from the ministration of an- 
gels, and from the spirit of Christ ; and doubtless, the further 
the stream runs from the fountain, the more impure it is. It 
gathers some defilement from every unclean channel it passeta 
through. Though it savours not in the hand of angels, of the 
imperfection of sinners, yet it doth of the imperfection of crea- 
tures ; and as it comes from man, it savours of both. How 
quick and piercing is the word in itself! Yet many times it 
never enters, being managed by a feeble arm. O what weight 
and worth is there in every passage of the blessed gospel! 
enough, one would think, to enter and force the dullest soul, 
and wholly possess its thoughts and affections : and yet how 
oft doth it drop as water upon a stone? The things of God 
which we handle are divine : but our manner of handling is 
human : and there is little or none that ever we touch, but we 
leave the print of our fingers behind us ; but if God should 
speak this word himself, it would^De a piercing melting word 
indeed. 

If an angel from heaven should preach the gospel, yet could 
he not deliver it according to its glory; much less we who 
never saw what they have seen, and keep this treasure in 
earthen vessels. The comforts that flow through sermons, sa- 
craments, reading, conference, and Creatures, are but half 
comforts, in comparison of those which the Almighty shall 
speak with his own mouth, and reach forth with his own band. 
The christian knows by experience now, that his most imme- 
diate joys are his sweetest joys ; which have least of man, and 
are most directly from the spirit. That is one reason, 1 con- 
ceive, why christians who are much in secret prayer and med- 
itation, are men of greatest life ; because they are nearer the 
well-head, and have all more immediately from God himself. 
And that I conceive the only reason, why we are more indis- 
posed to those secret duties, and can easier bring our hearts to 
hear and read, than to secret prayer, self- examination and 



THE SAINTS EVfcRLASTING REST. 4*3 

meditation ; because in the former is more of man, and in these 
we approach the Lord alone, and our natures draw back from 
the most spiritual duties. Not that we should therefore cast 
off the other, and neglect any ordinance of God : to live above 
them while we use them, is the way of a christian. But to live 
above ordinances, so as to live without them, is to live without 
the government of Christ. It is then we shall have light with- 
out a candle ; and a perpetual day without the sun : ' For the 
city hath no need of the sun, neither the moon to shine in it : 
for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light 
thereof.' Rev. xxi. 23- Nay, ' There shall be no night there, 
and they need no candle, nor light of the sun, for the Lord God 
giveth them light, and they shall reign for ever and ever.' We 
shall then have rest without sleep, and be kept from cold with- 
out our clothing, and need no fig-leaves to hide our shame : 
for God will be our rest, and Christ our clothing, and shame 
and sin will cease together. We shall then have health with- 
out physic, and strength without the use of food ; for the Lord 
God will be our strength, and the light of his countenance will 
be health to our souls, and marrow to our bones. We shall 
then (and never till then) have enlightened understandings 
without scripture, and be governed without a written law. — 
For the Lord will perfect bis law in our hearts, and we shall 
be all perfectly taught of God : his own will shall be our law, 
and his own face shall be our light for ever. We shall then 
have communion without sacraments, when Christ shall drink 
with us of the fruit of the vine new, that is, refresh us with the 
comforting wine of immediate fruition in the kingdom of his 
Father. 

5. A further excellency of this rest is this : it will be a suita- 
ble rest : suited, 1. To our natures. 2. To our desires. 3, To 
our necessities. 

1. To our natures. If suitableness concur not with excel- 
lency, the best things may be bad to us ; for it is not that 
which makes things good in themselves, to be good to us. In 
our choice of friends, we oft pass by the more excellent, to 
choose the more suitable ; every good agrees not with every 
nature. The choicest dainties which we feed upon ourselves, 
would be to our beasts, as an unpleasing, so an insufficient 
sustenance. 



44 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

Now* here is suitableness and excellency conjoined. The 
new nature of the saints doth suit their spirits to this rest : and 
indeed their holiness is nothing else but a spark taken from 
this element, and by the spirit of Christ kindled in their hearts, 
the flame whereof, as mindful of its divine original, doth ever 
mount aloft, and tend to the place from whence it comes. — 
Gold and earthly glory, temporal crowns and kingdoms, could 
not make a rest for saints. As they were not redeemed with 
so low a price, so neither are they endued with so low a nature. 
As God will have from them a spiritual worship, suitable to his 
own spiritual being ; so will he provide them a spiritual rest, 
suitable to his people's spiritual nature. 

A heaven of the knowledge of God, and his Christ ; and a 
delightful complacency in that mutual love and everlasting re- 
joicing in the fruition of our God, a perpetual singing of his 
high praises : this is a heaven for a saint : a spiritual rest, suit- 
able to a spiritual nature. Then we shall live in our element. 
We are now as the fish in some small vessel of water, that hath 
only so much as will keep him alive : but what is that to the 
full ocean ? We have a little air let into us to afford us breath- 
ing : but what is that to the sweet and fresh gales upon mount 
Sion ? We have a beam of the sun to lighten our darkness, 
and a warm ray to keep us from freezing : but then we shall 
live in its light, and be revived by its heat for ever* 

2. It is suitable to the desires of the saints : for such as is 
their nature, such are their desires ; and such as their desires, 
such will be their rest. Indeed we have now a mixed nature : 
and from contrary principles, arise contrary desires. But it is 
the desires of our renewed nature, which tbis rest is suited to. 
Whilst our desires remain corrupt and misguided, it is a far 
Ngreater mercy to deny, yea, to destroy them, than to satisfy 
them : but those which are spiritual are of £is own planting, 
and he will surely water them, and give the increase. He 
quickened our hunger and thirst for righteousness, that he 
might make us happy in a full satisfaction. 

Christian, this is a rest after thy own heart ; it containeth all 
that thy heart can wish, that which thou longest for, prayest 
for, labourest for, there thou shalt find it all. Thou hadst rath- 
er have God in Christ, than all the world: why there thou 
shalt have him. Desire what thou canst, and ask what thou 
wilt, as a christian, and it shall be given thee ; not only to half 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 45 

of the kingdom, but to the enjoyment of both kingdom and 
king". This is a life of desire and prayer ; but that is a life of 
satisfaction and enjoyment. 

3. This rest is suitable to the saints' necessities also, as well 
as to their natures and desires. It contains whatsoever they 
truly wanted ; not supplying them with gross created comforts, 
which, like Saul's armour on David, are more burden than 
benefit : but they shall there have the benefit without the bur- 
den ; and the pure spirits extracted (as it were) shall make up 
their cordial, without the mixture of any drossy or earthly sub- 
stance. It was Christ and perfect holiness, which they most 
needed, and with these shall they be supplied. 

4. Another excellency of our rest will be this, that it will be 
absolutely perfect and complete ; and this both in the sincerity 
and universality of it. We shall then have joy without sorrow, 
and rest without weariness : as there is no mixture of our cor- 
ruption with our graces, so no mixture of sufferings with our so- 
lace : there is none of these waves in that harbour, which now 
toss us up and down. To-day we are well, to-morrow sick : 
to-day in esteem, to-morrow in disgrace : to-day we have 
friends, to-morrow none : nay, we have wine and vinegar in the 
same cup. If revelation should raise us up to the third heaven, 
the messenger of Satan must presently buffet us : but there is 
none of this inconstancy in heaven. If perfect love cast out 
fear ; then perfect joy must needs cast out sorrow, and perfect 
happiness exclude all the relicks of misery. There will be an 
universal perfecting of all our parts and powers, and an univer- 
sal removal of all our evils. And though the positive part be 
the sweetest, and that which draws the other after it, even as 
the rising of the sun excludes the darkness ; yet te not the 
negative part to be slighted, even our freedom from so many 
and great calamities. Let us therefore look over these more 
punctually, and see what it is we shall there rest from. In gen- 
eral, it is from all evil. Particularly, First, from sin. Second- 
ly> suffering. 

First, It excludeth nothing more directly than sin ; whether 
original, and of nature*; or actual, and of conversation ; for 
' there entereth nothing that defileth, nor that worketh abomi- 
nation, nor that maketh a lie.' What need Christ have died, if 
heaven could have contained imperfect souls ? For * to this 
end came he into the world, that he might put away tbe works 



46 TtfE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

of the devil.' His blood and spirit have not done all this, to 
leave us after all, defiled. £ For what communion hath light 
with darkness ? And what fellowship hath Christ with Belial ?' 
He that haih prepared for sin the torments of hell, will never 
admit it into the blessedness of heaveo. Therefore, christian, 
never fear this : if thou be once in heaven, thou shalt sin no 
more. Is not this glad news to thee, who hast prayed, and 
watched, and laboured against it so long ? 1 know if it were 
offered to thy choice, thou wouldst rather choose to be freed 
from sin, than to be made heir of the world. Thou shalt have 
thy desire : that hard heart, those vile thoughts, which thou 
couldst no more leave behind thee, than leave thyself behind 
thee, shall be now left behind for ever. If they accompany 
thee to death, they cannot proceed a step further. Thy under- 
standing shall never more be troubled with darkness : igno- 
rance and error are inconsistent with this light. Now thou 
walkest like a man in the twilight, ever afraid of being out of 
the way : but then will all darkness be dispelled, and our blind 
understandings fully opened. 

O what would we giv . to know clearly all the profound mys- 
teries in the doctrine of redemption, of justification, of the na- 
ture of grace, of ihe divine attributes ! What would we give to 
seo rJl dark scripiures made plain ; to see all seeming contra- 
dictions reconciled ! Why, when glory hath taken away the 
veil from our eyes, all this will be known in a moment; we 
sha : l then see clearly into all the controversies about doctrine 
or discipline that now perplex us. The poorest christian is 
presently there a more perfect divine, than any is here. We 
are now, through our ignorance, subject to such mutability, that 
in points not fundamental, we change as the moon : but when 
once our ignorance is perfectly healed, then shall we be settled, 
resolved men ; then* shall our reproach be taken from us, and 
we shall never change our judgment more. Our ignorance 
now doth lead us into error, to the grief of our more knowing 
brethren, to the disturbing the church's quiet, to the scandali- 
zing of others, and weakening ourselves. How many a faith- 
ful soul is seduced into error ! Loth they are to err, God knows ; 
and therefore read and pray, and yet err still. And in lesser 
and more difficult points, how can it be otherwise. 

Can it be expected, that men void of learning and strength 
of parts, unstudied and untaught, should at the first onset know 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 47 

those truths, which they are almost incapable of knowing at allj; 
when the greatest divines of clearest judgment acknowledge 
so much difficulty, that they could almost find in their hearts, 
sometimes to profess them quite beyond their reach ? But O 
that happy approaching day, when error shall vanish away for 
ever, when our understanding shall be filled with God himself, 
whose light will leave no darkness in us ! His face shall be the 
scripture, where we shall read the truth : and himself, instead 
of teachers and counsellors, to perfect our understandings, and 
acquaint us with himself. No more error, no more scandal to 
others, no more disquiet to our own spirits, no more mistaken 
zeal for falsehood. Many a good man hath here in his mistaken 
zeal, been a means to deceive and pervert his brethren; and 
when he sees his own error, cannot again tell how to undeceive 
them: but there we shall all conspire in one truth, as being 
one in him who is the truth. 

And as we shall rest from all the sin of our understandings, so 
of our wills, affections and conversation. We shall no more re- 
tain this rebelling principle, which is still withdrawing us from 
God. We shall no more be oppressed with the power of our 
corruptions, nor vexed with their presence : no pride, passion, 
slotbfulness, senselessness shall enter with us ; no strangeness 
to God, and things of God ; no coldness of affections, nor im- 
perfections in our love ; no uneven walking, nor grieving of 
the Spirit ; no scandalous action, or unholy conversation : we 
shall rest from all these for ever. Then shall our understand- 
ings receive their light from the face of God, as the full moon 
from the open sun : then shall our wills correspond to the di- 
vine will, as face answers face in the glass; and his will shall be 
our law and rule, from which we shall never swerve again. I 
conclude, therefore, with the words next my text, 4 He that is 
entered into hns rest, hath ceased from his own works, as God 
from his.' So that there is a perfect rest from sin. 

Secondly, It is a perfect rest from suffering. When the 
cause is gone, the effect ceaseth. Our sufferings were but the 
consequents of our sinning, and here they shall cease to- 
gether. 

1. We shall rest from all the temptations of Satan. What a 
grief is it to a christian, though he yield not to the temptation, 
yet to be still solicited to deny his Lord ? That such a thought 
should be cast into his heart ? That he can set about nothing 



48 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

that i3 good, but Satan is still uissuadirig him from it, distract- 
ing him ir it, or discouraging hitn after it? What a torment, 
as well as a temptation Is it, to have such horrid motions made 
to his soul? Sometime cruel thoughts of God; sometime un- 
dervaluing thoughts of Christ ; se.metime unbelieving thoughts 
of scripture ; sometime injurious thoughts of Providence : to 
be tempted sometime to turn to present things; sometime to 
play with the baits of sin ; sometime to venture on the delights 
of the flesh ; and sometime to Atheism itself! Especially when 
we know the treachery of our own hearts, that they are as 
tinder, ready to take fire, as soon as one of these sparks shall 
fall upon them : but when the day of our deliverance comes, 
we shall fully rest from these temptations : Satan is then bound 
up, the time of tempting is done ; the time of torment to him- 
self, and his conquered captives, is then come ; and the victo- 
rious saints shall have triumph from temptation. Now we 
walk among his snares, and are in danger to be circumvented 
with his wiles : but then we are quite above his snares. He 
hath power here to tempt us in the wilderness, but he entereth 
not the holy city : he may set us on the pinacle of the temple 
in the earthly Jerusalem, but the new Jerusalem he may not 
approach. Perhaps he may bring us to an exceeding high 
mountain ; but the mount Sion, and city of the living God, he 
cannot ascend. Or if he should, yet all the kingdoms of the 
world, and the glory of them, would be but a poor bait to the 
soul which is possessed of the kingdom of our Lord. 

2. We shall rest from all our temptations which we now un- 
dergo from the world and the flesh, as well as Satan : and that 
is a number inexpressible. O the hourly dangers that we here 
walk in ! Every sense is a snare ; every member a snare ; eve- 
ry creature a snare ; every mercy a snare ; and every duty a 
snare to us. We can scarce open our eyes but we are in dan- 
ger : if we behold them above us, we are in danger of envy : if 
we see sumptuous buildings, pleasant habitations, honour and 
riches, we are in danger to be drawn away with covetous de- 
sires : if the rags and beggary of others, we are in danger of 
self-applauding thoughts or unmercifulness : if we see beauty, 
it is a bait to lust ; if deformity, to loathing and disdain. We 
can scarcely hear a word spoken, but contains to us matter of 
temptation. How soon do slanderous reports, vain jests, or 
wanton speeches creep into the heart ? How strong and preva- 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 40 

lent a temptation is our appetite? And how constant and 
strong a watch doth it require ? Have we comeliness and beau- 
ty ? what fuel for pride ! Are we deformed? what an occasion 
of repining ! Have we strength of reason and learning ? O how 
hard is it not to be puffed up ! to hunt after applause ! to des- 
pise our brethren ! Are we unlearned, of shallow heads, and 
slender parts ? How apt then to despise what we have not ! — 
And' to undervalue that which we do not know ? And to err 
with confidence because of our ignorance ! And if conceited- 
ness and pride do but strike in, to become a zealous enemy to 
truth, and a leading troubler of the church's peace, under pre- 
tences of truth ! Are we men of eminency and authority ? — 
How strong is our temptation to slight our brethren ! to abuse 
our trust! to seek ourselves ! to stand upon our honour and 
privileges ! to forget ourselves, our poor brethren and the pub- 
lic goo:i ! how hard to devote our power to his glory, from 
whom we have received it ! how prone to make our wills our 
law ! Are we inferiors? how prone to grudge at other's pre- 
eminence ! and to bring their actions to the bar of our judg- 
ment ! Are we rich, and not too much exalted ? Are we poor 
and not discontented ? Do we set upon duties ? they are snares 
too : either we are stupid and lazy, or rest in them, and turn 
from Christ. In a word, not one word that falls from the mouth 
of a minister or christian, but is a snare ; nor a place we come 
into : not a word that our tongues speak, not any mercy we pos- 
sess, nor a bit we put into our mouths, but they are snares ; not 
that God hath made them so, but through our own corruption 
they become so to us. So that what a sad case are we in ? es- 
pecially they that discern them not ! For it is almost impossi- 
ble they should escape them. It was not for nothing that our 
Lord cried out, ' What 1 say to one, 1 say to all, watch.' We 
are like the lepers at Samaria, ' If we go into the city, there is 
nothing but famine ; if we sit still, we perish. 

But for ever blessed be omnipotent love, which saves us out 
of all these, and makes our straits but the advantages of the 
glory of his grace ! And * blessed be the Lord, who hath not 
given our souls for a prey : our soul is escaped as a bird out 
of the snare of the fowler ; the snare is broken and we are es- 
caped.' Now, our houses, our clothes, our sleep, our food, our 
physic, our father, mother* wife, children, friends, goods, lands, 
are ail so many temptations ; and ourselves the greatest snare 

E 



60 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

to ourselves : but in heaven, the danger and trouble is over : 
there is nothing but what will advance our joy. Now every 
companion is beckoning- us to sin, and we can scarce tell how 
to say to them, nay : but our rest will free us from all these. — 
As Satan hath no entrance there, so neither any thing to serve 
bis malice • but all things there with us conspire the praises of 
our great Deliverer. 

2. And as we rest from temptations, so also from all abuses 
^and persecutions which we suffer at the hands of wicked men. 
We shall be scorned, derided, imprisoned, banished by them no 
more ; the prayers of the souls under the altar will then be an- 
swered, and God c will avenge their blood on those that dwell on 
the earth.' This is the time for crowning with thorns, buffet- 
ing, spitting on : that is the time for crowning with glory. — 
Now the law is decreed on, 4 That whosoever will live godly in 
Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecutions : then they that suffered 
with him, shall be glorified with him.' Now we must be k hated 
of all men for Christ's namesake :' then ' will Christ be admi- 
red in his saints' that were thus hated. We are here as the 
scorn and off-scouring of all things ; as men set up for a gazing 
stock to angels and men, even lor signs and wonders amongst 
professing christians ; they put us out of their synagogues, and 
cast out our name as evil, and separate us from their company : 
but we shall then be as much gazed at for our glory, and they 
will be shut out of the church of the saints, and separated from 
us, whether they will or no. f hey now c think it strange that 
we run not with them to all excess of riot :' they will then think 
more strange that they ran not with us in the despised ways of 
God. We can now scarce pray in our families, or sing praise to 
God, but our voice is a vexation to them : how must it torment 
them then, to see us praising and rejoicing, while they are 
howling and lamenting? 

Brethren, you that now can attempt no work of God without 
resistance, and find you must either lose the love of the world, 
and your outward comforts, or else the love of God, and vcur 
eternal salvation ; consider you shall in heaven have no dis- 
couraging company, nor any but those who will further your 
work, and gladly join heart and voice with you in your everlast- 
ing joy and praise. Till then, ' possess your souls in patience :' 
bind all reproaches as a crown to your heads : esteem ihem 
greater riches than the world's treasure : * account it matter 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 51 

of joy when ye fall into tribulation.' Vou have seen that our 
God is able to deliver us ; but this is nothing" to our final deliv- 
erance : ' he will recompense tribulation to them that trou- 
ble you ; and to you that are troubled, rest with Christ.' 

4. We shall then also rest from all our sad divisions and un- 
christian quarrels with one another. As he said, who saw the 
carcases lie together, as if they had embraced each other, who 
had been slain by each other in a duel : " How lovingly do they 
embrace one another, who perished through their mutual en- 
mity !" So, how lovingly do thousands live together in heaven, 
who lived in divisions on earth ! As he said, who beheld how 
quietly and peaceably the bones and dust of mortal enemies did 
lie together, " You did not live together so peaceably," So we 
may say of multitudes in heaven now all of one mind, one heart, 
and one employment, you lived not on earth in so sweet famil- 
iarity. There is no contention, because none of this pride, 
ignorance or other corruption : Paul and Barnabas are now 
fully reconciled. There they are not every man conceited of 
his own understanding, and in love with the issue of his own 
brain ; but all admiring the divine perfection, and in love with 
God and one another. As old Gryneus wrote to his friend, " If 
I see you no more on earth, yet we shall there meet, where 
Luther and Zuinglius are now well agreed," There is no re- 
cording our brethren's infirmities : nor raking into the sores 
which Christ died to heal. There is no plotting to strengthen 
our party ; nor deep designing against our brethren. 

And is it not a shame and pity, that our course is now so con- 
trary ? Surety, if there be sorrow or shame in heaven, we shall 
then be both sorry and ashamed to look one another in the face ; 
and to remember all this carriage on earth, even as the breth- 
ren of Joseph were to behold him, when they remembered their 
former unkind usage. Is it not enough that all the world is 
against us, but we must also be against ourselves ? Did 1 ever 
think to have heard christians so to reproach and scorn chris- 
tians ? And men professing the fear of God, to make so little 
conscience of censuring, vilifying, and disgracing one anoth- 
er ? O what hellish things are ignorance and pride, that can 
bring men's souls to such a case as this ? Paul knew what he 
said, when he commanded, that ' a novice should not be a teach- 
er, lest being lifted up he fall into the condemnation of the 
devil.- I Tim. Hi. 6. He discerned that such young christians 






»% THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

that have got but a little smattering knowledge in religion, lie 
in greatest danger of this pride and condemnation. Who but 
.Paul could have forseen, that among the very teachers and 
governors of so choice a church as Ephesus, there were some 
that afterwards should be notorious sect-masters ? c That of 
their own selves men should arise, speaking perverse things, 
to draw away disciples after them.' Acts xx. 30. Who then 
can expect better from any society now, how knowing and holy 
soever ? To-day they may be unanimous, and joined in love : 
and perhaps within a few weeks be divided, and at bitter enmi- 
ty, through their doating on questions that tend not to edify. 

5. We shall then rest from ail which we now undergo, by 
participating with our brethren in their calamities. Alas, 
if we had nothing upon ourselves to trouble us, yet what heart 
could lay aside sorrows, that lives in the sound of the church's 
sufferings ? If Job had nothing upon his body to disquiet him, yet 
the message of his children's overthrow must needs grieve the 
most patient scul. Except we are turned into steel or stone, 
and have lost both christian and human affection, there needs 
no more than the miseries of our brethren to nil our hearts with 
sorrows. The church on earth is a mere hospital ; which way 
soever we go, we hear complaining ; and into what corner so- 
ever we cast our eyes, we behold objects of pity : some groan- 
ing under a dark understanding, some under a senseless heart, 
some languishing under unfruitful weakness, and some bleeding 
for miscarriages and wilfulness, and some in a lethargy, that 
they are past complaining ; some crying out of their pining pov- 
erty ; some groaning under pains and infirmities, and some be- 
wailing a whole catalogue of calamities, especially in days of 
common sufferings : butour day of rest will free us and them 
from all this. Now we may enter many a poor christian's cot- 
tage, and see poverty possessing and filling all : how much bet- 
ter is that day, when we shall see them filled with Christ, cloth- 
ed with glory, and equal with the greatest princes ? 

"But a far greater grief it is to our spirits, to see the spiritual 
miseries of our brethren ; to see such an one, with whom we 
took sweet counsel, now falling off to sensuality, turned drunk- 
ard, worldling, or a persecutor, and these trying times have giv- 
en us too large occasion for such sorrows ! to see our dearest 
friends turned aside from the truth of Christ, ayd confident in 
the flesh, continue their neglect of Christ and their souls, and 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. OO 

nothing waking them out of their security ; and to think how 
certainly they shall be in hell for ever, if they die in their pres- 
ent state : and will it not be a blessed day, when we shall rest 
from all these sorrows ? ' When the people shall be all right- 
eous, even the work of God's hands, the branch of his planting, 
that he may be glorified ? Thus shall we rest from our partici- 
pation of our brethren's sufferings. 

6. We shall rest from all our personal sufferings. And 
though this may seem a small thing to those that live in con- 
tinual ease, and abound in all kind of prosperity ; yet me- 
thinks, to the daily afflicted soul, it should make the fore- 
thoughts of heaven delightful : and 1 think I shall meet with 
few of the saints, but will say that this is their own case. 

Though we are reconciled by the blood of the covenant, and 
the price is paid for our full deliverance ; yet our Redeemer 
sees fit to leave this measure of misery upon us, to mind us of 
what we would else forget ; to be serviceable to his wise and 
gracious designs, and advantageous to our full and final re- 
covery. As all our senses are the inlets of sin ; so they are 
the inlets of sorrow. Grief creeps in at our eyes, at our ears, 
and almost every where : it seizeth upon our heads, our hearts, 
our flesh, our spirits : and what part doth escape it? fears de- 
vour us, and darken our delights, as the frost nips the buds: 
cares feed upon our spirits, as the scorching sun doth wither 
the delicate flowers. Or, if any hath fortified his inwards 
against these, yet he is naked still without. 

What tender pieces are these dusty bodies? What brittle 
glasses do we bear about us ? and how many thousand dangers 
are they hurried through? And how hardly cured if once 
cracked ? O the multitude of slender veins, of tender mem- 
branes, nerves, fibres, muscles, arteries ; and all subject to 
obstructions, tensions, contractions, resolutions, runtures, or 
one thing or other to cause their grief! Every one is a fit sub- 
ject for pain, and fit to communicate that pain to the whole : 
but sin, and flesh, and dust, and pain, will all be left behind to- 
gether. 

O the blessed tranquility of that region, where there is no- 
thing but sweet continued peace ! No succession of joy there, 
because no intermission. Our lives will be but one joy, as our 
time will be changed into one eternity. O healthful place, 
where none are sick ! O fortunate land, where all are kings I 
e 2 



54 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST; 

O place most holy, where all are priests? How free a state, 
where none are servants, save to their supreme monarch ! 
Our face shall no more be pale or sad : our groans and sighs 
will be done away, and God ' shall wipe away all tears from 
our eyes.' No more parting of friends, nor voice of lamenta- 
tion heard in our dwellings ; no more breaches nor dispropor- 
tion in our friendship, nor any trouble accompanying our rela- 
tions : no more care of masters for servants, or parents for 
children, or magistrates over subjects, or ministers over peo- 
ple. O what room can there be for any evil, where the whole 
is perfectly filled with God ! " Then shall the ransomed of the 
Lord return and come to Sion with songs, and everlasting joy 
upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sor- 
row and sighing shall flee away.' Isaiah xxxv. JO. Hold out 
then a little longer, O my soul ; bear with the infirmities of 
thine earthly tabernacle ; endure that share of sorrows, that 
the love of thy Father shall impose ; submit to his indignation 
also, because thou hast sinned against him ; it will be thus but 
a little while ; the sound of thy Redeemer's feet is even at the. 
door; and thine own deliverance nearer than many others. 
And thou who hast often cried in the language of the divine 

poet, 

Sorrow was all my soul*, I scarce believed, 
Till grief did tell me roundly, that I lived} 

£halt then feel, that God and joy is all thy soul ; the fruition of 
whom, with thy freedom from all these sorrows, will more 
sweetly and more feelingly make thee know, and to his eter- 
nal praise acknowledge, that thou livest. And thus we shall 
rest from all afflictions. 

The last blessed attribute of this rest is, that it is an eternal 
rest. This is the crown of our crown ; without which all were 
comparatively nothing. The very thought of leaving it would 
embitter all our joys ; and the more, because of the singular 
excellencies we must forsake. It would be a hell in heaven to 
think of once losing heaven : as it would be a kind of heaven 
to the damned, had they but hopes of once escaping. 

It makes our present life of little value (were it not for the 
reference it hath to eternity) to think that we must shortly lay 
at down. How can we take delight in any thing, when we re- 
member how short that delight will be ? But, O blessed eter- 
pity ! w£ere our lives are perplexed with no such thoughts, 



THE SAINT& EVERLASTING REST. £5 

»or our joys interrupted with any such fears ! O what do 1 say 
when I talk of eternity ? Can my shallow thoughts conceive 
it? To be eternally blessed, and so blessed ! Surely tLis, if any 
thing-, is the resemblance of God ; eternity as a .piece of infi- 
niteness. Then, ' O death, where is thy sting ? O grave where 
is thy ?ictory ?' Days, and nights, and years, time and end, 
and death, are words which there have no signification ; nor 
are used, except perhaps to extol eternity ; as the mention of 
hell, to extol heaven : all the years of our Lord, and the years 
of our life, are swallowed up and lost in this eternity. 

While we were servants, we held by lease ; and that but for 
the term of transitory life : ' But the son abideth in the house 
forever.' Our earthly paradise in Eden had a way om, but 
none, that ever we could find, in again : but this eternal para- 
dise hath a way in, (a milky way to us, but a bloody way to 
Christ) but no way out again : 'For they that woald pass 
from hence to you' (saith Abraham) ' cannot :' a strange 
phrase ! would any pass from such a place, if they might ?. 
Could they endure to be absent from God again one hour? 
No : but upon supposal they would, yet they could not. O 
then my soul, let go thy dreams of present pleasures : and 
loose thy hold of earth and flesh. Fear not to enter that es- 
tate, where thou shalt ever after cease thy fears. Sit down, 
and sadly once a day bethink thyself of this eternity : among 
all the arithmetical numbers, study the value of this infinite 
cypher, which though it stand for nothing in the vulgar ac- 
count, doth yet contain all our millions, as much less than a 
simple unit : lay by the perplexed and contradicting chronolo- 
gical tables, and fix thine eye on this eternity ; and the lines 
which remote thou couldst not follow, thou shalt see altogether 
here concentered. Study less these tedious volumes of histo- 
ry, which contain but (he silent narration of dreams, and are 
but the pictures of the actions of shadows : and instead of all, 
study frequently, study thoroughly, this one word [eternity,] 
and when thou hasb thoroughly learned that one word, thou 
wilt never look on books again. What! live and never die! 
Rejoice, and ever rejoice ! O, what sweet words are these ! 
This word [everlasting] contains the accomplished perfection of 
our glory. O that the wicked sinner would but soundly study 
this word [everlast in g;~\ methinks it should startle him out of 
his deep sleep ! O that the gracious soul would believiDgly 



56 



THE SAIx\TS EVERLASTING RESTc 



study this word [everlasting;'] methinks it should revive him in 
the deepest agony ! And must I, Lord, thus live for ever ? Then 
willl also love for ever. Must my joys be immortal? And 
shall not my thanks be also immortal ? Surely, if I shall never 
lose my glory, I will never also cease thy praises. . If thou wilt 
both perfect and perpetuate me, and my glory ; as 1 shall be 
thine, and not mine own, so shall my glory be thy glory ; and 
as they did take their spring from thee, so all shall devolve to 
thee again : and as thy glory was thine ultimate end in my 
glory, so shall it also be mine end, when thou hast cro- ned 
me with that glory which hath no end. And to c Thee. () King 
eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, shall be the 
honour, and glory, for ever and ever. Amen.' 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE PEOPLE OF GOD DESCRIBED, 

Havlng thus performed my first task of describing the saints 
rest : it remains that now I proceed to the second, and shew 
3'ou what these people of God are. and why so called ; for whom 
this blessed rest remaineth. 

Regeneration is the first and great qualification of the peo- 
ple of God. To be the people of God without regeneration, is 
as impossible as to be the children of men without generation ; 
seeing we are born God's enemies, we mustabe new-born his 
sons, or else remain his enemies still. 

Christ hath spoken it with his mouth, * That except a man be 
born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.' Tfae 
greatest reformation of life, without this new life, wrought in 
the soul, may procure our further delusion, but never our sal- 
vation. 

But by what acts doth this new life discover itself? 

The first work I call conviction, whlc*h comprehends the 
knowledge of what the scripture speaks against sin and sinners ; 
and that this scripture which speaks so, is the word of God him- 
self, it comprehends also, some knowledge of ourselves, and 
our own guiit, and an acknowledgment of the verity of those 
consequences, which, from the practice of siu in us, and threats 
in scripture, conclude us miserable. 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 57 

2. As there must be conviction, so also sensibility. God 
works on the heart, as well as the head ; both were corrupted 
and out of order. The principle of new life doth quicken both. 
All true spiritual knowledge doth pass into the affections. The 
great things of sin, of grace, and Christ, and eternity, which are 
of weight, one would think, to move a rock : yet shake not the 
heart of the carnal professor, nor pierce his soul to the quick : 
though he should be a constant preacher of them to others, yet 
they little affect himself : when he is pressing them upon the 
hearts cf others, you would little think how insensible is his 
own soul : his invention procureth him zealous and moving ex- 
pressions, but they cannot procure him answerable affections. 

The things that the soul is thus convinced and sensible of; 
are especially these ; 

1 . The evil of sin. The sinner is made to know and feel, 
that the sin which was his delight, is a more loathsome thing 
than toads or serpents, and a greater evil than plague or fam- 
ine, or any other calamities : it being a breach of the righteous 
law of the Most High? God, dishonourable toning and destruc- 
tive to the sinner. 

Now the sinner reads and hears the reproofs of sin, as words 
of course ; but when you mention his sin, he feels you speak at 
his very heart, and yet is contented you should shew him the 
worst : he was wont to marvel, what made men keep such a 
stir against sin, what harm it was for a man to take a little pleas- 
ure ; he saw no such heinousness in it. But now the case is 
altered ; God hath opened his eyes to see its inexpressible vile- 
ness. 

2. The soul in this great work is convinced and sensible, as 
of the evil of sin, so of its own misery by reason of sin. They 
who before read the threats of God's law, as men do the stories 
of foreign wars ; now find it is their own story, and perceive 
they read their own doom, as if they found their names writ- 
ten in the curse, or heard the law say, as Nathan, < thou art the 
man.' The wrath of God seemed to him but as a storm to a man 
in a dry house : but now he finds the disease is his own, and 
feels the pains in his own bowels. In a word, he finds himself 
a condemned man, dead and damned in point of law, and that 
nothing is wanting but mere execution to make him absolutely 
and irrecoverably miserable, 



58 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

Whether you will call this a work of the law or gospel, it 
is a work of the Spirit wrought in some measure in all the re- 
generate : And though some judge it unnecessary bondage, yet 
it is beyond my conceiving, how he should come to Christ for 
pardon, that first found not himself guilty and condemned : — 
'The whole need not the physician, but they that are sick.' 
Yet 1 deny not, but the discovery of the remedy as soon as the 
misery, may prevent a great part of the trouble, and the distinct 
effect on the soul, to be with much more difficulty discerned : 
nay, the actings of the soul are so quick, and oft so confused, 
that the distinct order of these workings may not be apprehend- 
ed or remembered at all ; and perhaps the joyful apprehen- 
sions of mercy may make the sense of misery the sooner for- 
gotten. 

3. So doth the spirit also convince the soul, of the creature's 
vanity and insufficiency. Ev:ry man naturally is a flat idola- 
ter. Our hearts were turned from God in our first fall ; and ever 
since the creature hath been our God : this is the grand sin of 
nature : when we set up to ourselves a wrong end, we must 
needs err in all the means. The creature is, to every unregen- 
erate man, his God : he ascribeth to it the divine prerogatives, 
and alloweth it the highest room in his soul ; or if ever he come 
to be convinced of misery, hefieeth to it as his Saviour. Indeed 
God and his Christ have usually the name ; but the real expec- 
tation is from the creature, and the work of God is laid upon it. 
His pleasure, his profit, and his honour, is the natural man's 
trinity ; and his self, that is these in unity : indeed, it is that 
flesh that is the principal idol; the other three are deified in 
their relation to ourselves. It was our first sin, to aspire to be 
as gods ; and it is the greatest sin that runs in our blood, and is 
progagated in our nature from generation to generation. 

When God should guide us, we guide ourselves; when he 
should be our sovereign, we rule ourselves. The laws which 
he gives us. we find fault with ; and if we had had the making of 
them, we would have made them otherwise : when he should 
take care -f us, (and must, or we perish) we will care for our- 
selves ; when we should depend on him daily, we had rather 
keep our stock ourselves, and have our portion in our own 
hands : when we should stand at his disposal, we would be at 
our own : and when we should submit to his Providence, we 
usually quarrel at it : as if we knew better what is good for fcs 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 59 

than he, or how to dispose all things more wisely. This is the 
language of a carnal heart, though it doth not always speak out. 
When we should study God, we study ourseives ; when we 
should mind God we mind ourseives ; when we should love 
God, we love ourselves ; when we should trust God, we trust 
ourselves ; when we should honour God, we honour ourselves ; 
when * e should ascribe to God, and admire him, we ascribe to, 
and admire ourselves ; and instead of God, we would have all 
men's eyes and dependence on us, and all men's thanks return- 
ed to us, and would gladly be the only .men on earth admired 
and extolled by all. 

And thus we are naturally our own idols ; but down falls this 
Dagon, when God does once renew the soul : it is the great bu- 
siness of that great work to bring the heart back to God. He 
convinceth the sinner, 1. That the creature can neither be his 
God to make him ; 2. Nor yet his Christ, to recover him from 
his misery, to restore him to -God, who is his happiness. This 
Goa doth, not only by preaching, but by Providence also ; be- 
cause words will nardly take off the raging senses, therefore 
doth Goa make his rod to speak, and continue speaking, till 
the sinner hear, and hath learned this great lesson. 

This is the great reason why affliction doth so ordinarily con- 
ciif in the work of conversion ; these real arguments which 
speak to the quick, will force a hearing when the most power- 
ful kvords are slighted. When a sinner made his credit his God, 
and God shall cast him into the lowest disgrace ; or bring him 
that idolized his riches, into a condition wherein they cannot 
help mm, or cause them to take wings and flyaway; what a 
help is hereto this work of conviction? When a man that 
made his pleasure his God, whether ease, or sports, or mirth, 
or company, or gluttony, or drunkenness, or clothing, or 
buildings; or whatsoever a ranging eye, a curious ear, a 
raging appetite, or a lustful heart could desire, and God shall 
take these from him, or give him their sting and curse 
with them, and turn them all into gall and wormwood, what 
a help is here to conviction ? When God shall cast a man 
into a languishing sickness, and inflict wounds and anguish on 
his heart, and stir up against him his own conscience, and then 
as it were take him by the hand, and lead him to credit, to rich- 
es, to pleasure, to company, to sports, or whatsoever was dear- 
est to him, and say, now try if these can help j 7 ou ; can these 



60 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

heal thy wounded conscience ? Can they now support thy tot- 
tering cottage ? Can they keep thy departing- soul in thy body? 
Or save thee from mine everlasting wrath ? Will they prove to 
thee eternal pleasure ? Or redeem thv soul from the eternal 
flames ? Cry aloud to them, and see now whether these will he 
instead of God and his Christ unto thee. O how this works 
with the sinner ! whensense Itself acknowle igeth the truth, 
and even the flesh is convinced of the creature's vanity. 

4. The fourth tbiug that the soui is convinced and sensible 
of, is the absolute necessity, the. full sufficiency, and perfect 
excellency of Jesus Christ. 

This conviction is not by mere argumentation, as a man is 
convinced of some unconcerniug consequence by dispute : but 
also by the sen-e of our desperate misery, as a man in a famine 
of the necessity of food ; or a man that had read or heard his 
condemnation, is convinced of the absolute necessity of a par- 
don. Now the sinner finds himself in another case than ever 
he was aware of: he feel? an insupportable burden upon him, 
and sees there is none but Christ can take it off : he perceives 
that he is under the wrath of God, and that the law proclaims 
him a rebel and out-law, an i none but Christ can make his 
peace : he is as a man pursued oy a lion, that must perish if he 
find not present sanctuary : he feels the curse doth lie upon 
him, and upon all he hath, for his s^ke, and Christ aloce can 
make him blessed : he is now brought to this dilemma, either he 
must have Christ to justify him, or be eternally condemned ; he 
must have Christ to save him, or burn in hell for ever : he must 
have Christ to bring him again to God, or to be shut out of his 
presence everlastingly. And no wonder, if he cry, as the mar- 
tyr Lambert, u none but Christ : none but Christ." It is not 
gold, but bread, that will satisfy the hungry : nor any thing but 
pardon, that will comfort the condemned. ' All things are now 
but dross and dung: and what he, counted gain, is now 
but loss in comparison of Christ:' for as the sinner seeth his 
utter misery, and the disability of himself, and ail things to re- 
lieve him ; so he doth perceive, that there is no saving mercy 
out of Christ. There is none found in heaven or on earth thaj 
can open the sealed book, save the Lamb ; without his blood 
there is no remission, and without remission there is no salva- 
tion. Could the sinner now make any shift without Christ, or 
could any thing else supply his wants, and save his soul, then 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 61 

might Christ be disregarded: but now he is convinced, that 
there is no other name, and the necessity is absolute. 

2. And as the soul is thus convinced of the necessity of Christ, 
so also of his full sufficiency : he sees, though the creature can- 
not, and himself cannot, yet Christ can. Though the fig leaves 
of our own unrighteous righteousness are too short to cover our 
nakedness, yet the righteousness of Christ is large enough: 
ours isdisproportionable to the justice of the law, but Christ's 
doth extend to every title : his sufferings being a perfect satis- 
faction to the law, and * all power in heaven and earth being 
given to him, he is now able to supply every of our wants, and 
4 to save to the uttermost all that come to him.' 
• 3. The soul is also here convinced of the perfect excellency 
of Jesus Christ, both as he is considered in himself, and as con- 
sidered in relation to us : both as he is the only way to the Fath- 
er, and as he is the end, being one with the Father. Before, he 
knew Christ's excellency, as a blind man knows the light of 
the sun ; but now as one that beholdeth his glory. 

And thus doth the spirit convince the soul. 

4. After this sensible conviction, the will discovereth also 
its change; and that in regard of all the forementioned objects. 

1. The sin which the understanding pronounceth evil, the 
will doth turn from with abhorrency. iNot that the sensitive 
appetite is changed, or any way made to abhor its object ; but 
when it would carry us to sin against God; this disorder and 
evil the will abhorreth. 

2. The misery also which sin hath procured, as he discern- 
eth, so he bewaileth. It is impossible that the soul now living, 
should look either on its trespass against God, or its own self- 
procured calamity, without some compunction. He that truly 
discerneth that he hath killed Christ, and killed himself, will 
surely in some measure be pricked to the heart. If he cannot 
weep, he can heartily groan ; and his heart feels what his un- ' 
derstanding sees. 

3. The creature he now renounceth as vain, and turneth it 
out of his heart with disdain. Not that he undervalueth it, or 
disclaimeth its use ; but its idolatrous abuse, and its unjust 
usurpation. 

There is a two-fold error very common in the descriptions' of 
the work of conversion. The one, of those who only mention 
the sinner's turning from sin to God, without mentioning 1 the 
F 



62 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

receiving" Christ by faith. The other, of those who only men 
tion a sinner's believing", and then think they have said all : 
nay, they blame them as Legalists, who makeany thing but the 
bare believing of the love of God in Christ to us, to be part of 
the work ; and would persuade poor souls to question all their 
former comforts, and conclude the work to have been only le- 
gal, because they have made their change of heart and turning 
from sin, part of it ; and have taken up part of their comfort 
from the reviewing of these. 

Indeed, should they take up here without Christ, or take 
such a change instead of Christ, in whole or in part, the repre- 
hension were just. But can Christ be the way, where the 
creature is the end; is he not the only way to the Father? 
Can we seek to Christ to reconcile us to God, while in our 
hearts we prefer the creature before him ? In the soul of every 
unregenerate man, the creature is both God and Christ. Can 
Christ be believed in, where our own righteousness, or any 
other thing, is trusted as our Saviour ? 

The truth is : as turning from the creature to God, and not 
by Christ, is no true turning ; se believing in Christ, while the 
creature hath our hearts, is no true believing. And therefore 
in the work of self-examination, whoever would find in himself 
a thorough sincere work, must find an entire work ; even the 
one of these as well as the other. 

In the review of which entire work, there is no doubt but his 
soul may take comfort. And it is not to be made so light of, as 
most do, that scripture doth so ordinarily put repentance be- 
fore faith, and make them jointly conditions of the gospel : 
which repentance contains those acts of the will before ex- 
pressed. 

It is true, if we take faith in the largest sense, then it con- 
tains repentance in it; but if we take it strictly, no doubt 
there are some acts of it go before repentance, and some follow 
after. 

4. And as the will is thus averted from the forementioned ob- 
jects; so at the same time doth it cleave to God the Father, 
and to Christ. Its first acting consists especially in intending 
and desiring God for his portion and chief good ; having before 
been convinced, that nothing else can be his happiness, he now 
finds it in God ; and therefore looks towards it. But it is yet 
rather with desire thaa hope. For alas, the sinner hath alrea- 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 63. 

dy found himself to be a stranger and an enemy to God, under 
the guilt of sin and curse of the law, and knows there is no 
coming to him in peace till his case be altered ; and therefore 
having before been convinced also, that only Christ is able and 
willing to ^.o this, and having heard this mercy in the gospel 
freely offered ; his next act is, to accept of Christ as his Saviour 
and Lord. 

Therefore both mistake : they who only mention our turning 
to Christ, and they who only mention our turning to God,, in 
this work of conversion. St. Paul's preaching was ' repent- 
ance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ.' — 
And, ■ life eternal consists, first in knowing the only true God,' 
and then ' Jesus Christ whom he hath sent.' John xvii. 3. The 
former is the natural part of the covenant, to take the Lord 
only for our God. The latter is the supernatural part, £o take 
Christ only for our Redeemer. The former is first necessary, 
and implied in the latter. 

Though repentance and good works are required to our full 
justification at judgment, as subservient to, or concurrent with 
faith; yet is the nature of this justifying faith itself contained, 
in accepting of Christ for Saviour and Lord. I call it accept- 
ing, it being principally an act of the will; but yet also of the 
whole soul. This accepting being that which the gospel press- 
eth to, and call eth the receiving or accepting Christ. 1 call 
it an affectionate accepting, though love seem' distinct from 
faith, yet I take it as essential to that faith that justifies. To 
accept Christ without love, is not justifying faith. i\or doth 
love follow as a fruit, but immediately concur : as essential to 
a true accepting. 

It is an accepting him for our Saviour and Lord. For in both 
relations will he be received, or not at al!. It is not only to ac= 
knowledge his sufferings, and accept of pardon and glorv, but 
to acknowledge his sovereignty, a*nd submit to his government 
and way of saving. 

The work (which Christ thus accepted of, is to perform) is, 
to bring the sinners to God, that they may be happy in him ; 
and this both really by his Spirit, and relatively in reconciling 
them, and making them sons : and to present them perfect be- 
fore him at last, and to possess them of the kingdom. The ob- 
taining of these are the sinner's lawful ends in receiving 
Christ; and to these uses doth he offer himself to U3. 



t>4 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

5. To this end doth the sinner now enter into a cordial cov- 
enant with Christ. But he was never strictly, nor comfortably 
in covenant with Christ till now. He is sure Christ doth con- 
sent, and now doth he cordially consent himself; and so the 
agreement is fully made. 

6. With this covenant, concurs a mutual delivery; Christ 
delivereth himself in all comfortable relations to the sinner, 
and the sinner delivereth up himself to be saved and ruled by 
Christ. iNow doth the soul resolvedly conclude, 1 have been 
blindly led by the flesh, the world, and the devil, too long-, 
almost to my destruction ; I will now be wholly at the disposal 
of my Lord, who hath bought me with his blood, and will bring 
me to his glory. And thus the complete work of saving faith 
consisteth in this covenanting, or mystical marriage of the sin- 
ner to Christ. 

Thus you have a naked enumeration of the essentials of this 
people of God: not a full portraiture of them in all their ex- 
cellencies, nor all the notes whereby they be discerned. And 
though it will be part of the following application, to put you 
upon trial : yet because the description is now before your 
eyes, and these evidencing works are fresh in your memory, it 
will cot be unseasonable, to take an account of your own es- 
tates, and to view yourselves exactly in this glass, before you 
pass. And 1 beseech thee, reader, as thou hast the hope of a 
christian, yea, or the reason of a man, to deal thoroughly, and' 
search carefully, and judge thyself as one that must shortly be 
judged by the righteous God: and faithfully answer to these 
few questions. 

And first, hast thou been thoroughly convinced of an univer- 
sal deprivation through thy whole soul ? And an universal 
wickedness through thy whole life ? and how vile a thing this 
sin is ? and that by the tenor of that covenant which thou hast 
transgressed, the least sin deserves eternal death? Dost thou 
consent to this law, that it is true and righteous? Hast thou 
perceived thyself sentenced to this death by it, and been con- 
vinced of thy undone condition? Hast thou further seen the 
utter insufficiency of every creature, either to be itself thy hap- 
piness, or the means of curing this thy misery, and making 
thee happy in God? Hast thou been convinced, that thy hap- 
piness is only in God as the end ? and only in Christ as the way 
to him? and that thou must be brought to God by Christ, or 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 65 

perish eternally ? Hast thou seen hereupon an absolute ne- 
cessity of enjoying- Christ? and the full sufficiency that is in 
him, to do for thee whatsoever thy case requireth, by reason of 
the fulness of his satisfaction, the greatness of his power, the 
dignity of his person, and the freeness of his promises? Hast 
thou discovered the excellency of this pearl, to be worth thy 
selling all to buy it? Hath all this been joined with some sensi- 
bility ? As the convictions of a man that thirsteth, of the worth 
of drink? And not been only a change of opinion produced by 
reading and education, as a bare notion in the understanding ? 
Hath it proceeded to an abhorring sin? Have both thy sin and 
miser} 7 been a burden to thy soul? and if thou couldst not weep, 
yet couldst thou groan under the insupportable weight of both ? 
Hast thou renounced all thine own righteousness? Hast thou 
turned thy idols out of thy heart ; so that the creature hath no 
more the sovereignty; but God and Christ? Dost thou accept 
of Christ as thy only Saviour, and expect thy justification, re- 
covery and glory from him alone ? Dost thou take him also for 
Lord and King? And are his laws the most powerful command- 
ers of thy soul! Do they ordinarily prevail against the com- 
mands of the fleshy of Satan, of the greatest on earth that shall 
countermand? and against the interest of thy credit, profit, 
pleasure, or life ; So that thy conscience is directly subject to 
Christ alone ? Hath he the highest room in thy affections? So 
that though thou canst not love him as thou wouldst, yet noth- 
ing else is loved so much ? Hast thou made a hearty covenant 
to this end? and delivered up thyself to him? and takest thy- 
self for his, and not thine own ? fs it thy utmost care and 
watchful endeavour that thou mayest be found faithful in this 
covenant? If this be truly thy case, thou art one of the people 
of God : and as sure as the promise of God is true, this blessed 
rest remains j for thee. Only see thou abide in Christ, and 
continue to the end : ' For if any draw back, his soul will have 
no pleasure in them. 5 

THE CONCLUSION. 

And thus I have explained to you the subject of my text : and 

shewed you darkly, what this rest is, and briefly who are this 

people of God. O that the Lord would now open your eyes, 

;o discern, and be affected with the glory revealed ! That he 

f 2 



uv THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

would take off your hearts from those dung- hill delights, and 
ravish them with the views of these everlasting pleasures ! 
That he would bring you into the state of his holy and heaven- 
ly people, for whom alone this rest remaineth ! That you would 
exactly try yourselves by the foregoing description ! That no 
soul of you might be so damnably deluded, as to take your 
natural or acquired parts, for the characters of a saint I O hap- 
py, and thrice happy you, if these sermons might have such 
success with your souls, that so you might * die the death of 
the righteous, and your last end be like his I 9 



END OP THE FIRST PART. 



THE 

SAINTS EVERLASTING REST, 

PART II. 
-•#*?•••- 

Hebrews iv. 9. 
There remavneth therefore a Rest to the People of God, 

CHAPTER 1. 

I have been hitherto presenting to your understandings, the 
excellency of the Rest of the Saints. Let your hearts now 
cheerfully embrace it, and improve it, and 1 shall present it to 
you, in its respective uses. 

I will lay together all those uses that most concern the un- 
godly, and then those that are proper to the godly themselves.' 

THE INCONCEIVABLE MISERF OF THE UNGODLY IN THEIR LOSS 
OF THIS REST. 

And first, if this rest be for none but the people of God, what 
tidings is this to the ungodly world ? That there is so much glo- 
ry, but none for them : so great joys for the saints of God, while 
they must consume in perpetual sorrows ! If thou who readest 
these words, art a stranger to Christ, and to the holy nature 
and life of his people, and shall live and die in the condition 
thou art now in; I am a messenger of the saddest tidings to 
thee, that ever yet thy ears did hear : that thou shalt never 
partake of the joys of heaven, nor have the least taste of the 
saints eternal rest. 1 may say to thee, as Ehud to Eglon ; I 
have a message to thee from God : but it is a mortal message, 
that as sure as the word of God is true, thou shalt never see the 
face of God with comfort. This sentence 1 am commanded to 



/ fl 



6$ THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

pass upon thee ! Take it as thou wilt, and escape it if thou caast. 
I know, if thy heart and life were thoroughly changed, thy re- 
lation to Christ and eternity would be changed also ; he would 
then acknowledge thee for one of his people, and give thee a 
portion in the inheritance of his chosen. Bat if thou end thy 
days in thy present condition, as sure as the heavens are over 
thy head, and the earth under thy feet ; as sure as thou livest 
and breathest in this air, so sure shalt thou be shut out of this 
rest of the saints, and receive thy portion in everlasting fire. 
I expect that thou shouldst in the pride of thy heart, turn upon 
me, and say, and when did God shew you the book of life, or 
tell you who they are that shall be saved, and who shut out? 

I will not answer thee according to thy folly ; but plainly dis- 
cover this thy folly to thyself, that if there be yet any hope, 
thou mayest recover thy understanding, and return to God and 
live : First, 1 do not name thee nor any other ; I only conclude 
of the unregenerate in general, and of thee conditionally, if 
thou be such an one. Secondly, 1 do not go about to determine 
who shall repent, and who shall not, much less, that thou shalt 
never repent, and come to Christ. These things are unknown 
to me ; I had far rather shew thee what hopes thou hast before 
thee, if thou wilt not sit still and lose them : and 1 would far 
rather persuade thee to hearken in time, before the door is shut 
against thee, that so thy soul may return and live, than tell thee 
that there is no hope of thy repenting and returning. But if 
the foregoing description of the people of God does not agree 
with the state of thy soul ; it is then a hard question, whether 
thou shalt ever be saved ? Even as hard a question as whether 
God be true ? Do 1 need to ascend up into heaven, to know, 
'That without holiness none 6hall see Godf or, ' That only 
the pure in heart shall see God ?' 6r, c That except a man be 
born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God?' Cannot 
these be known without searching into God's councils ? And 
yet dost thou ask me, how I know who shall be saved ? What 
need I go up to heaven to inquire that of Christ, which he 
came down to earth to tell us ? and sent his Spirit in his proph- 
ets and apostles to tell us ? and hath left upon record to all the 
world ? And though I do not know the secrets of thy heart, and 
therefore cannot tell thee by name, whether it be thy state or 
no; yet if thou art but willing or diligent, thou mayest know 
thyself, whether thou art an heir of heaven, or not. And that 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 69 

is the main thing that I desire, that if thou be yet miserable, 
thou mayest discern it, and escape it. But canst thou escape, 
if thou neglect Christ and salvation ? ' It thou love father, 
mother, wife, children, houses, lands, or thine own life better 
than Christ; if so, thou canst not be his disciple.' And conse- 
quently canst never be saved by him. Is it not as impossible 
for thee to be saved, c except thou be born aga ; n,' as it is for 
the devils themselves to be saved ? Nay. God hath more plain- 
ly and frequently spoken it in the scripture, that such sinners 
as thou shalt never be saved, th?n he hath done, that the devils 
shall never be saved. And do not these tidings go cold to thy 
heart? Methinks, but that there is yet life and hope before 
thee, and thou hast }^et time and means to have thy soul recov- 
ered, the sight of thy case should even strike thee dead with 
amazement. But because 1 would fain have thee, if it be pos- 
sible, to lay it to heart, J will here stay a little longer and shew 
thee, first, the greatness of thy loss; secondly, the aggrava- 
tions of thy unhappiness in this loss ; thirdly, the positive mise- 
ries that thou must endure, with their aggravations. 

First, The ungodly in their loss of heaven, lose all that glo- 
rious personal perfection, which the people of God there enjoy. 
They lose that shining lustre of the body, surpassing the bright- 
ness of the sun. Though even the bodies of the wicked will 
be raised incorruptible, ye* that will be so far from being hap- 
piness to them that it only makes them capable of the more ex- 
quisite torments. They would be glad then, if every member 
were a dead member, that it might not feel the punishment in- 
flicted on it ; and the whole body were a rotten carcase, or 
might again lie down in dust and darkness. Much more do 
they want that moral perfection which the blessed partake of; 
those holy dispositions ; that blessed conformity to the holiness 
of God; that cheerful readiness to do his will; that perfect 
rectitude of all their actions : instead of these, they have their 
old ulcerous deformed souls, that perverseness of Tvill, that dis- 
order in their faculties, that loathing of good, that love to evil, 
that violence of passion, which they had on earth. It is true, 
their understandings will be much cleared, both by the ceasing 
of temptation and deluding objects, and by the sad experience 
which they will have in hell, of the falsehood of their former 
conceits and delusions. But the evil disposition is never the 
more changed ; they have the same disposition still, and fain 



70 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST., 

would commit the same sins, if they could; they want but op- 
portunity : certainly they shall have none of the glorious per- 
fections of the saints, either in soul or body. There will be a 
greater difference between these wretches and the glorified 
christians, than there is betwixt a toad, and the sun in the fir- 
mament. 

Secondly \ But the great loss of the damned, will be their loss 
of God, they shall have no comfortable relation to him nor com- 
munion with him. As c they did not like to retain God in their 
knowledge ;' but bid him, ' depart from us, we desire not the 
knowledge of thy ways :' so God will abhor to retain them in his 
household, or to give them entertainment in his fellowship 
and glory. He will never admit them to the inheritance of his 
saints, nor endure them to stand amongst them in his presence ; 
but bid them, * depart from Me, ye workers of iniquity, I know 
ye not.' Now these men dare belie the Lord, if not blaspheme, 
in calling him by the title of their Father; how boldly and 
confidently do they daily approach him with their lips, and in- 
deed reproach him in their formal prayers, with that appella- 
tion ? As if God would father the devil's children ; or, as if the 
slighters of Christ, the friends of the world, the haters of godli- 
ness, or any that delight in iniquity, were the ofTspring of heav- 
en ! They are ready now, to lay confident claims to Christ, as 
if they were sincere believers. But when that time is come, 
and Christ will separate his followers from his foes, and his 
faithful friends from bis deceived flatterers, where then will be 
their presumptuous claim ? Then they shall find that God is not 
their father, but their foe, because they would not be his peo- 
ple. And as they would not consent that God should by his 
Spirit dwell in them, so shall not these evil doers dwell with 
him ; the tabernacles of wickedness shall have no fellowship 
with him ; nor the wicked inhabit the city of God : ' for with- 
out are dogs, sorcerers, whoremongers, murderers, idolators, 
and whatsoever loveth and maketh a lie.' God is first enjoyed in 
part on earth, before he be fully enjoyed in heaven. It is only 
they, that walked with him here, who shall live and be happy 
with him there. Oh, little doth the world know what a loss 
that soul hath, who loseth God ! What were the world but a 
dungeon, if it had lost the sun ? What were the body but a 
loathsome carrion, if it had lost the soul ? Yet all these are 
nothing to the loss of God. So that as the enjoyment of God is 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 71 

the heaven of the saints; so the loss of God is the hell of the 
ungodly. And as the enjoying of God is the enjoying of all ; so 
the loss of God is the loss of all. 

Thirdly, As they lose God, so they lose all those delightful 
affections and actions, by which the blessed feed on God ; that 
transporting knowledge : those ravishing views of his glorious 
face : the inconceivable pleasure of loving God : the appre- 
hensions of his infinite love to us : the constant joys which his 
saints are taken up with, and the rivers of consolation where- 
with he doth satisfy them. Is it nothing to lose all this ? The 
employment of a king in ruling a kingdom, doth not so far ex- 
ceed the employment of the vilest slave, as this heavenly em- 
ployment exceedeth his. 

Fourthly, They shall be deprived of the blessed society of 
angels and glorified saints. Instead of being companions of 
those happy spirits, and numbered with those joyful and tri- 
umphing kings, they must now be members of the corporation 
of hell, where they shall have companions of a far different na- 
ture.. While they lived on earth, they loathed the saints, they 
imprisoned, banished them, and cast them out of their societies, 
or at ieast they would not be their companions in labour and in 
sufferings ; and therefore they shall not now be their compan- 
ions in their glory. Now you are shut out of that company, 
from which you first shut out yourselves ; and are separated 
from them whom you would not be joined with. You could not 
endure them in your houses, nor in your town, nor scarce in 
the kingdom ; you took them as Ahab did Elias, for the ' troub- 
les of the land ;' and as the apostles were taken for l men that 
turned the world upside down ;' if any thing fell Out amiss, you 
thought all was through them. When they were dead or ban- 
ished, you were glad they were gone ; and thought the country 
was well rid of them. They molested you with their faithful 
reproving your sin ; their holy conversation troubled you.— ■ 
You scarce ever heard them pray or sing praises in their fami- 
lies, but it was a vexation to you ; and you envied their liberty 
of worshipping God. And is it then any wonder if you be sep- 
arated from them hereafter ! The day is near when they will 
trouble you no more ; betwixt them and you will be a great 
gulf set, that those that would pass from thence to you (if any 
had a desire to ease you with a drop of water) cannot, neither 
can they pass to them, who would go from you. 



72 , THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

CHAPTER 11. 

THE AGGRAVATION OF THE LOSS OF HEAVEN TO THE UNGODLY. 

I know many will be ready to think, if this be all, tbey do not 
much care : what care they for losing the perfections above ? 
What care they fur losing God, his favour, or his presence? 
They lived merrily without him on earth, and why should it be 
so grievous to be without him hereafter? and what care they 
for being deprived of that love, and joy, and praising of God ? 
They never tasted sweetness in the things of that nature ; or 
what care they for being deprived of the fellowship of angels 
and saints ? They could spare their company in this world well 
enough, and why may they not be without it in the world to 
come ? To make these men therefore understand the truth of 
their future condition, 1 will here annex these two things : 

1. 1 will shew you why this loss will be intolerable, and most 
tormenting then, though it seem as nothing now. 

2. 1 will shew you what other losses will accompany these; 
which, though they are less in themselves, yet will now be 
more sensibly apprehended 

1. Then, That this loss of heaven will be most tormenting., 
may appear by these considerations. 

1. The understandings of the ungodly will be then cleared, 
to know the worth of that which they have lost. Now tbey la- 
ment not their loss of God, because they never knew his excel- 
lency, nor the loss of that holy employment and society, for 
they were never sensible what they were worth. A man that 
hath lost a jewel, and took it but for a common stone, is never 
troubled at his loss; but when he comes to know what he has 
lost, then he larnenteth it. 

Though the understandings of the damned will not then be 
sanctified; yet will they be cleared from a multitude of errors. 
They think now that ! heir honour, their estates, their plea- 
sures, their health and life, are better worth their labour, than 
the things of another world; but when these things which had 
their hearts, have left them in misery, when they know by ex- 
perience, the things which before they did but read and hear of, 
they will be quite in another mind. They would not believe 
that water would drown, till they were in the sea ; nor that the 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 73 

fire would burn, till they were cast into it ; but when they feel 
it, they will easily believe. All that error of their mind, which 
made them set light by God, and abhor his worship, and vilify 
his people, will then be removed by experience-, their knowl- 
edge shall be increased, that their sorrows may be increased. 
Doubtless those poor souls would be comparatively happy, if 
their understandings were wholly taken from them, if they had 
no more knowledge than idiots, or brute beasts ; or if they knew 
no more in heil, than they did upon earth, their loss and misery 
would then less trouble them. 

How happy would they now thiok themselves, if they did not 
know there is such a place as heaven ? Now, when their knowl- 
edge would help to prevent their misery, they will not know ; 
but then when their knowledge will but feed their consuming 
fire, they shall know whether they will or no. 

2. The loss of heaven will more torment them then, because, 
as the understanding will be clearer, so it will be more enlarg- 
ed, and made more capacious, to conceive of the worth of that 
glory which they have lost. The strength of their apprehen- 
sions^ as well as the truth of them, will then be increased.— 
What deep apprehensions of the wrath of God, of the madness 
of sinning, of the misery of sinners, have these souls that now 
endure this misery, in comparison of those on earth that do but 
hear of it? What sensible apprehensions of the worth of life, 
hath the condemned man that is going to be executed, in com- 
parison of what he was wont to have in the time of his prosperi- 
ty ? Much more will the actual deprivation of eternal blessed- 
ness make the damned exceeding apprehensive of the great- 
ness of their loss : and as a large vessel will hold more water 
than a shell, so will their more enlarged understandings contain 
more matter to feed their torment, than now their shallow ca- 
pacity can do. 

3. And as the damned will have deeper apprehensions of the 
happiness they have lost, so will they have a closer application 
of this doctrine to themselves, which will exceedingly tend to 
increase their torment. It will then be no hard matter for 
them to say, this is my loss, and this is my everlasting misery. 
The want of this is the main cause why they are now so little 
troubled at their condition : they are hardly brought to believe 
that there is such a state of misery, but more hardly to believe 
that it is like to be their own. This makes so many sermons 

G 



74 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

to be lost, and all threatenings and warning's prove in vain. — • 
Let a minister of Christ shew them their misery never so plain- 
ly, they will not be persuaded that they are so miserable. Let 
him tell them of the glory they must lose, and the sufferings 
they must feel, and they think it is not they whom he means. 
We find in all our preaching, by sad experience, that it is one 
of the hardest things in the world to bring a wicked man to 
know that he is wicked ; a man that is in the way to hell, to 
know that he is in that way ; or to make a man see himself in a 
state of wrath and condemnation : how seldom do we hear men, 
after the plainest discovery of their condemned state, cry out, • I 
am the man !' or to acknowledge, that if they die in their pres- 
ent condition, they are undone for ever. 

There is no persuading men of their misery till they feel it, 
except the Spirit of the Almighty persuade them. 

Oh, but when they find themselves suddenly in the land of 
darkness, perceive by the execution of the sentence that they 
were indeed condemned, and feel themselves in the scorching 
flames, and see that they are shut out of the presence of God for 
ever, it will then be no such difficult matter to convince them of 
their misery : this particular application of God's anger to 
themselves, will then be the easiest matter in the world ; then 
they cannot choose but know and apply it, whether they will 
or no. 

4. Again, as the understandings and consciences of sinners 
will be strengthened, so will their affections be moreliveiy and 
enlarged : as judgment will be no longer blinded, nor con- 
science stifled, so the affections will be no longer stupified. A 
hard heart now makes heaven and hell seem but trifles : ancl 
when we have shewed them everlasting glory and misery, they 
are as men half asleep, they scarce take notice what we say, our 
words are cast as stones against a hard wall, which fly back in 
the face of him that casteth them. We talk of terrible aston- 
ishing things, but it is to dead men that cannot apprehend it : 
we speak to rocks rather than to men : the earth will as soon 
tremble as they. But when these dead wretches are revived, 
what passionate sensibility ! what working affections ! what 
pangs of horror ! what depth of sorrow will there then be .' flow 
violently will they fly in their own faces ! How will they rage 
against their former madness ! The lamentations of the most 
passionate wife for the loss of her husband; or of the tenderest 



the saints everlasting rest. 75 

mother for the loss of her children, will be nothing to theirs for 
the loss of heaven. Oh, the self accusing", and self- tormenting 
fury of those forlorn wretches ! How they will even tear their 
own hearts, and be God's executioners upon themselves ! 1 am 
persuaded, as it was none but themselves that committed the 
sin, and themselves that were the meritorious cause of their 
sufferings, so themselves will be the chief executioners of those 
sufferings ; God will have it so for the clearing of his justice ; 
even Satan himself, as he was not so great a cause of their 
sinning as themselves, so will he not be so great an instrument 
of their torment. How happy would you think yourselves then 
if you were turned into rocks, or any thing that had neither 
passion nor sense ! How happy were you, if you could now feel 
as lightly as you were wont to hear! And if you could sleep 
out the time of execution, as you did the time of the sermons 
that warned you of it ! But your stupidity is gone, it will not 
be. 

5. Moreover, it will much increase the torment of the 
damned, that their memories will be as large and strong as their 
understandings and affections. Were their loss never so great, 
and their sense of it never so passionate, yet if they could but 
lose the use of their memory, those passions would die, and that 
loss, being forgotten, would little trouble them. But as they 
cannot lay by their life and being, so neither can they lay aside 
any part of that being. Understanding, conscience, affections, 
memory, must all live to torment them, which should have 
helped to their happiness. And as by these they should have 
fed upon the love of God, and drawn forth perpetually the joys 
of his presence ; so by these must they now feed upon the 
wrath of God, and draw forth continually the pains of his 
absence. 

And yet these men would never be brought to consider ; but 
in the latter days (saith the Lord) they shall perfectly consider 
it: when they are ensnared in the work of their own hands: 
when God hath arrested them, and judgment is passed upon 
them, and vengeance is poured cut upon them, to the full, then 
they cannot choose but consider it, whether they will or no. — 
Now they have no leisure to consider, nor any room in their 
memories for the things of another life. But then, they shall 
have leisure enough, they shall be where they have nothing 
else to do ; their memories shall have no other employment, it 



<t> THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

shall be engraven upon the tables of their hearts. God would 
hare had the doctrine of their eternal state to have been writ- 
ten on the posts of their doors, on their houses, on their hands, 
and on their hearts : and seeing they rejected this counsel of 
the Lord, therefore shall it be written always before;;them in 
the place of their thraldom, that which way soever they look, 
they may still behold it. 

J will briefly lay down some of those considerations, which 
will thus feed the anguish of these damned wretches. 

1. It will torment them to think of the greatness of the glory 
which they have lost. O if it had been that which they could 
have spared, it had been a small matter: Or, if it had been a 
loss reparable with anything else; If it had been health, or 
wealth, or friends, or life, it had been nothing ; but to lose 
- that exceeding and eternal weight of glory !' — 

2. It will torment them to think of the possibility that once 
they were in of obtaining it. Then they will remember, the 
time was, when 1 was in as fair a possibility of the kingdom as 
others ; I was set upon the stage of the world ; if I had played 
my part wisely and faithfully, now 1 might have had possession 
of the inheritance ; I might have been amongst yonder blessed 
saints, who am now tormented with these damned fiends ! The 
Lord did set before me life and death, and having chosen death, 
I deserve to suffer it : the prize was once held out before me ; 
if I had run well, I might have obtained it : if 1 had striven, I 
might have had the mastery : If I had fought valiantly, I had 
been crowned. 

3. It will yet more torment them to remember, not only the 
possibility, but the great probability that once they were in, to 
obtain the crown. It will then wound them, to think, why I 
had once the gales of the Spirit ready to have assisted me. I 
was fully purposed to have been another man, to have cleaved 
to Christ, and to have forsook the world : I was almost resolved 
to have been wholly for God : 1 had even cast off my old com- 
panions, and yet 1 turned back, and lost my hold, and broke my 
promises, and slacked my purposes; almost God had persuad- 
ed me to be a real christian, and yet 1 conquered those persua- 
sions. What workings were in my heart, when a faithful min- 
ister pressed home the truth ! O how fair was 1 once for heav- 
en ? 1 had almost had it, and yet I have lost it ; if I had but fol- 
lowed on to seek the Lord, and blown up the sparks of desire 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. %1 

which were kindled in me, I had now been blessed among the 
saints. 

4. Yet further, it will much add to their torment to remem- 
ber, that God himself did condescend to entreat them ; how long 
he did wait, how freely he did offer, how lovingly he did invite, 
and how importunately he did solicit them ! how the Spirit did 
continue striving with their hearts, as if he were loth to take a 
denial : how Christ stood knocking at the door of their hearts, 
sermon after sermon, and one sabbath after another ; crying 
out, open, sinner, open thy heart to the Saviour, and c 1 will 
come in and sup with thee and thou with me.' Why dost thou 
thus delay? What dost thou mean, that thou dost not open to 
me ? How long shall it be till thou attain to innocency ? ' How 
long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee ?' Wo to thee, O 
unworthy sinner ! Wilt thou not be made clean ? Wilt thou not 
be pardoned and sanctified, and made happy ? When shall it 
once be ? O that thou wouldst hearken to my word, and obey 
my gospel ! ' Then should thy peace be as the river, and thy 
righteousness as the waves of the sea : though thy sins were as 
red as crimson, I would make them as white as the snow : O 
that thou were but wise to consider this ! and that thou wouldst 
in time remember thy latter end, before the evil days come up- 
on thee, and the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say of all thy 
vain delights, I have no pleasure in lhem !' Why sinner ! shall 
thy Maker thus bespeak thee in vain ? Shall the God of all the 
world beseech thee to be happy, and beseech thee to have pity 
upon thine own soul, and wilt thou not regard him ? Why did 
he make thy ears but to hear his voice ? Why did he make thy 
understanding, but to consider ? Or thy heart, but to entertain 
the Son in love ? ' Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, consider thy 
ways.' 

O ho w all these passionate pleadings of Christ will passionate- 
ly transport the damned with self indignation ! That they will 
be ready to tear out their own hearts ! How fresh will the re-> 
rnembrance of them be still in their minds, lancing their 
souls with renewed torments! what self-condemning pangs will 
it raise within them, to remember how oft Christ would have 
gathered them to himself ' even as the hen gathereth her chick- 
ens under her wings, but they would not ?' Then will they cry 
out against themselves, how justly is all this befallen me ! — 
Must 1 tire out the patience of Christ? Must 1 make the God 
g2 



?8 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST, 

of heaven to follow me in rain, till 1 had wearied him with cry- 
ing' to me, repent, return ? Must the Lord of all the world thus 
wait upon me, and all in vain? O how justly is that patience 
now turned into fury, which falls upon my soul with irresistible 
violence ! when the Lord cried out to me in his word, 4 How 
long will it be before thou wilt be made clean and holy V ' My 
heart, or at least my practice, answered, never; 1 will never be 
so precise ; and now when I cry out, how long 1 will it be till I be 
freed from this torment, and saved with the saints ! how justly 
do i receive the answer ! never, never ! — Oh sinner, 1 beseech 
thee for thy own sake, think of this while the voice of mercy 
soundeth in thine ears ? Yet patience continueth waiting upon 
thee ; canst thou think it will do so still ? Yet the offers of 
Christ and life are made to thee in the gospel, and the hand of 
God is stretched out to thee; but will it still be thus? The 
Spirit hath not yet done striving with thy heart : but dost thou 
know how soon he may turn away, and give thee over to a re- 
probate mind ? Thou hast yet life, and time, and strength, and 
means: but dost thou think that this life will always last ? Oh 
4 seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him 
while he is near : he that hath an ear to hear let him hear, 7 
what Christ now speaketh to his soul. And \ to-day, while it 
is called to-day, harden not your hearts, lest he swear in 
Lis wrath that you shall never enter into his rest ' Forever 
blessed is he, that hath a hearing heart and ear, while Christ 
hath a calling voice. 

5. Again, it will be a most cutting consideration to these, to 
remember on what easy terms they might have escaped their 
misery. If their work had been to remove mountains, to con- 
quer kingdoms, then the impossibility would somewhat assuage 
the rage of their self- accusing conscience. If their conditions 
for heaven had been, the satisfying of justice for all their 
transgressions, the suffering of all the law did lay upon them, 
or bearing the burden which Christ was fain to bear; this 
were nothing but to suffer hell to escape hell. But their 
conditions were of another nature. The yoke was light, and 
the burden was easy which Jesus Christ would have laid up- 
on them; his con mandments were not grievous. It was but 
to repent and accept him as their Saviour; to study his will, 
and seek his face ; to renounce all other happiness, but thaf 
^vhich he procureth us, and to take the Lord alone for our su- 



the Saints everlasting rest, 7& 

preme good ; to renounce the government of the world and 
the flesh, and to submit to his meek and gracious government \ 
to forsake the ways of our own devising, and to walk in his holy 
delightful way ; to engage ourselves to this by covenant with 
him, and to continue faithful in that covenant. 

These were the terms on wliich they might have enjoyed the 
kingdom. And was there any thing unreasonable in all this ? 
Was it a hard bargain to have heaven upon these conditions ? 

When the poor wretch shall look back upon these easy terms 
which he refused, and compare the labour of them with the 
pains and loss which he there sustaineth, it cannot be now con- 
ceived how it will rent his very heart ! Ah, thinks he, how justly 
do I suffer all this, who would not be at so small pains to avoid 
it; Where was my understanding when I neglected thy gra- 
cious offer ; when I called the Lord a hard master, and thought 
his pleasant service to be a bondage, and the service of the 
devil and my flesh to be the only freedom ? Was I not a thousand 
times worse than mad, when I censured the holy way of God, as 
needless preciseness ? and cried out on it, as an intolerable bur- 
den ? When 1 thought the laws of Christ too strict ; and all too 
much, that 1 did for the life to come ? O, what had all the trouble 
of duty been, in comparison of the trouble I now sustain ? Or all 
the sufferings for Christ and well-doing, in comparison of these 
sufferings that I must undergo for ever ? What if 1 had spent 
my days in the strictest life? What if 1 had lived still upon my 
knees ? What if I had lost my credit with men? and been ha- 
ted of all men for the sake of Christ ? and borne the reproach of 
the fooli?h ? What if 1 had been imprisoned, or banished, or put 
to death ? O, what had all this been to the miseries that I now 
suffer I Would not the heaven which 1 have lost, have recom- 
pensed all my losses ? and should not all my sufferings have 
been there forgotten ? What if Christ had bid me do some great 
matter ? as to live in continual tears and sorrow, to suffer death 
a hundred times over ? (which yet he did not) should 1 not have 
done it? How much more, when he said, but ' believe, and be 
saved : seek my face, and thy soul shall live : love me above 
all, walk in my sweet and holy way, take up thy cross and fol- 
low me, and J will save thee from the wrath of God, and I will 
give thee everlasting life.' O gracious offer! O easy terms! 
O cursed wretch, that would not be persuaded to accept thenil 



SO TtfE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST- 

6. This also will be a most tormenting consideration, to re-, 
member what they sold their eternal welfare for. When they 
compare the value of the pleasures of sin, with the value of the 
recompence of reward, how will the vast disproportion aston- 
ish them ! To think of a few pleasant cups, or sweet morsels, a 
little ease, or low delight to the flesh ; and then to think of 
everlasting glory ! What a vast difference between them will 
then appear ! To think, this is all 1 had for my soul, my God, 
my hopes of blessedness ! It cannot possibly be expressed how 
these thoughts will tear his heart. Then will he exclaim 
against his folly, O miserable wretch! Did J set my soul to 
sale for so base a price ? Did 1 part with my God for a little 
dirt and dross ? and sell my Saviour, as Judas, for a little silver? 

for how small a matter have I parted with my happiness ! 1 
had but a dream of delight, for my hopes of heaven ,* and now 

1 am awaked, it is all vanished : where are now my honours 
and attendance ? My morsels are now turned to gall, and my 
cups to wormwood. They delighted me no longer than while 
they were passing down ; and is this all I have had for the in- 
estimable treasure ? O what a mad exchange did I make ! 
What if 1 had gained all the world, and lost my soul? But alas, 
how small a part of the world was it, for which I gave up my 
part of glory ! — O that sinners would think of this, when they 
are swimming in delights, and studying to be rich and honoura- 
ble ! When they are desperately venturing upon known trans- 
gression, and sinning against the checks of conscience ! 

7. Yet much more will it add unto their torment, when they 
consider that all this was their own doings, and that they wil- 
fully procured their own destruction : had they been forced to 
6in, it would much abate the rage of their consciences, or if 
they were punished for another man's transgressions : or if any 
other had been the chief author of their ruin : but to think, 
that it was the choice of their own wills, and that God had set 
them in so free a condition, that none in the world could have 
forced them to sin against their wills, this will be a griping 
thought. What, (tbinks this wretched creature) had 1 not ene- 
mies enough in the world, but 1 must be an enemy to myself? 
God would neither give the devil, nor the world, so much pow- 
er over me, as to force me to commit the least transgression — 
If I had not consented, their temptations had been in vain; 
they could but entice me, it was myself that yielded, and dfd 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 81 

the evil ; and I must needs lay hands upon my own soul, and 
imbrue my hands in my own blood. Who should pity me, who 
pitied not myself, and who brought all this upon mine own 
head ? Never did God do me any good, or offer me any fur the 
welfare of my soul, but I resisted him : he hath heaped mercy 
upon me, and renewed one deliverance after another, to entice 
my heart to him, and yet was I never heartily willing to serve 
him : he hath gently chastised me, and made me groan under 
the fruit of my disobedience, and yet, though I promised large- 
ly in my affliction, I was never unfeignedly willing to obey him. 

Thus will it goaw the hearts of these wretches, to remember 
that they were the cause of their undoing ; and that they wil- 
fully and obstinately persisted in their rebellion, and were mere 
volunteers in the service of the devil. They would venture, 
they would go on, they would not hear him that spoke against it: 
God called to tbem to hear and stay, but they would not : men 
called, conscience called, and said to them, (as Pilate's wife) 
have nothing to do with that hateful sin ; for I have suffered many 
things because of it; but they would not hear ; their will was 
their law, their rule, and their ruin. 

8. Lastly, It will yet make the wound in their consciences 
much deeper, when they shall remember, that it was not only 
their own doing, but that they were at so much cost and pains 
for their own damnation. What great undertakings did they 
engage in to effect their ruin, to resist God, to conquer the 
Spirit, to overcome the power of mercies, judgments, and the 
word itself, to silence conscience ? All this they did take upon 
them and perform. What a number of sins did they manage at 
once ! What difficulties did they set upon ! Even the conquer- 
ing the power of reason itself. What dangers did they adven- 
ture on ! Though they walked in continual danger of the wrath 
of God, and knew he could lay them in the dust in a moment ; 
though they knew they lived in danger of eternal perdition, yet 
would they run upon all this. What did they forsake for the 
service of Satan and the pleasures of sin ? They forsook their 
God, their conscience, their best friends, their hopes of salva- 
tion. 

Oh the labour that it costeth poor wretches to be damned I 
Sobriety they might have at a cheaper rate, and a great deal of 
health and ease too ; and yet they will rather have gluttony 
and drunkenness, with poverty, and shame, and sickness, with 



€2 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

the outcries and lamentations of wife and children, and con- 
science itself. Conteotedness they might have, with ease and 
delight ; yet will they rather have covetousness and ambition ; 
though it cost them study, and cares, and fears, and labour of 
body and mind, and continual unquietness and distraction of 
spirit. Though their anger be nothing but a tormenting them- 
selves, and revenge and envy consume their spirits, and keep 
them upon a continual rack ; though uncleanness destroy their 
bodies, and estates, and names ; yet will they do and suffer all 
this, rather than suffer their souls to be saved. 

O bow the reviews of this will feed the flames in hell ! With 
what rage will these damned wretches curse themselves, and 
say, was damnation worth all this cost and pains ? Was it not 
enough that 1 perished through my negligence, and that I sat 
still while Satan played his game, but I must seek so diligently 
my own perdition ? Might I not have been damned on free cost, 
but 1 must purchase it so dearly ? I thought 1 could have been 
saved without so much ado : and could I cot have been destroy- 
ed without so much ado? How well is all my care, and pains, 
and violence now requited? Must 1 work out so laboriously 
my own damnation, when God commanded me to work out my 
salvation ? O if I had done as much for heaven as 1 did for hell, 
I had surely had it. I cried, out of the tedkms way of godliness ; 
and yet I could be at more pains for Satan, and for death. If 
I had loved Christ as strongly as I did my pleasures, and profits, 
and honours, and thought ou him as often, and sought him as 
painfully, O how happy had I now been ! But justly do 1 suffer 
the flames of hell, who would rather buy them so dear, than 
have heaven when it was purchased to my hands. 

Thus 1 have shewed you some of those thoughts which will 
aggravate the misery of these wretches for ever. O that God 
would persuade thee, who readest these words, to take up 
these thoughts now, for the preventing that inconceivable ca- 
lamity, so that thou mayest not take them up in hell as thy own 
tormentor. 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. #3 



CHAPTER ill. 

THEY SHALL LOSE ALL THINGS THAT ARE COMFORTABLE, AS 
WELL AS HEAVEN. 

Hav[NG shewed you those considerations, which will then 
aggravate their misery, 1 am next to shew you their additional 
losses, which will aggravate it. For as ' godliness hath the 
promise both of this life and that which is to come ;' and as God 
hath said, - That if we fir:it seek his kingdom and righteous- 
ness, all things else shall be added to us :' so also are the un- 
godly threatened with the loss both of spiritual and of corporal 
blessings ; and because they sought not first Christ's kingdom 
and righteousness, therefore shall they lose both it, and that 
which they did seek, and there shall be taken from them even 
that little which they have. If they could but have kept their 
present enjoyments, they would not have much cared for the 
loss of heaven : but catching at the shadow for the substance, 
they now find they have lost both ; and that when they reject- 
ed Christ, they rejected all things. If they had lost and for- 
saken all for Christ, they would have found all again in him ; 
for he would have been all iu all to them : but now they have 
forsaken Christ for other things, they shall lose Christ, and that 
also for which they did forsake him. 

But I will particularly open to you some of their other losses. 

1. They shall lose their present conceit of their interest in 
God, and of his favour towards them, and of their part in the 
merits and sufferings of Christ. This false belief doth now 
support their spirits, and defend them from" the terrors that 
would else seize upon them: but what will ease their trouble 
when this is gone ? When they can believe no longer, they 
will be quiet no longer, if a man conceit that he is in safety, 
his conceit may make him cheerful till his misery comes, and 
then both his conceit and comforts vanish. 

There is none of this believing in hell ; nor any persuasion of 
pardon or happiness, nor any boasting of their honesty, nor 
justifying themselves. This was but Satan's stratagem, that, 
being blindfold, they might follow him the more boldly ; but 
then he will uncover their eyes, and they shall see where they 



£4 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

2. Another addition to the misery of the damned, will be 
this: that with the loss of heaven, they shall lose all their 
hopes. In this life, though they were threatened with the 
wrath of God, yet their hope of escaping it did bear up their 
hearts. We can now scarce speak with the vilest drunkard, 
or swearer, or scorner, but he hopes to be saved for all this. — 
O happy world! if salvation were as common as this hope; 
even those whose hellish nature is written in the face of their 
conversation, whose tongues plead the cause of the devil, and 
speak the language of hell : yet strongly hope for heaven, 
though the God of heaven hath told them no such shall ever 
come there. Nay, so strong are men's hopes, that they will 
dispute the cause with Christ himself at judgment, and plead 
* their eating and drinking in his presence, their preaching in 
his name, and casting out devils, (and these are more probable 
arguments than our baptism, and common profession and name 
of christians) they will stiffly deny that ever they 'neglected 
Christ in hunger, nakedness, or prison,' till Christ confute them 
with the sentence «f their condemnation. Though the heart 
of their hopes will be broken at their death ; yet, it seems, 
tbey would fain plead for such hope at the general judgment. 

But, O the sad state of these men, when they must bid fare- 
well to all their hopes ! when their hopes shall all perish with 
them ! * The eyes of the wicked shall fail, and their hope shall 
be as the giving up of the ghost.' The giving up of the ghost, 
is a fit, but terrible resemblance of a wicked man's giving up 
his hopes. 

For First, as .the soul departeth not from the body without 
the greatest pain, so doth the hope of the wicked depart. O 
the pangs that seize upon the soul of the sinner at death and 
judgment, when he is parting with all his hopes ! 

Secondly, The soul departeth from the body suddenly, in a 
moment, which hath there delightfully continued so many 
years ; just so doth the hope of the wicked depart. 

Thirdly, The soul which then departed, will never return to 
live with the body in this world any more ; and the hope of the 
wicked, when it departeth, taketh an everlasting farewell of 
his soul. A miracle of resurrection shall again conjoin the 
soul and body, but there shall be no such miraculous resurrec- 
tion of the damned's hope. 






TRE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. ©O 

Metbinks it is the most doleful spectacle that this world af- 
fords, to see an ungodly person dyins: ; bis soul and hopes de- 
parting together ! With what a sad change he appears in an- 
other word ! Then if a man could but speak with thai hopeless 
soul and ask it. are you now as confident of salvation as you 
wero wont to be ? Do you now hope to be saved as soon as the 
most godly ? O wbat a saa answer would he return ! 

O that careless sinners would be awakened to think of this 
in time ! If thou be one of them, who art reading these lines, I 
do here, as a friend, advise thee, that as thou woul 1st not have 
all thy hopes deceive thee when thou hast most need, thou 
presently try tbem, whether the\ will prove current at the 
touchsione of the scripture ; and if thou find them unsound, let 
them go, whatsoever sorrow they cost thee. Rest not till thou 
canst give a reason of all thy hopes : till thou canst prove that 
they are the hopes which grace, and not nature, hath wrought; 
that they are grounded upon scripture promises; that they pu- 
rify thy heart; that they quicken, and not coolthx endeavours 
in godliness; that the more thou hopest, the less thou sinnest, 
and the more painful thou art in following on the work, and not 
grown more loose and careless by the increasing of thy hopes; 
that thou art willing to have them tried, and fearful of being 
deceived ; that they stir up thy desires of enjoying what thou 
hopest for, and the deferring thereof is the trouble of tuy heart. 
There is a hope which is a singular grace and duty : and 
there is a hope which is a notorious, dangerous sin : so conse- 
quently there is a despair which is a grievous sin ; and there is 
a despair which is absolutely necessary to thy salvation. 

1 would not have thee despair of the sufficiency of the blood of 
Christ to save thee, if thou believe, and heartily obey him : nor 
of the willingness of God to pardon and save thee, if thou be 
such an one ; nor yet absolutely of thy own salvation, because 
whiie there is life and time, there is hope of thy conversion, and 
so of thy salvation ; nor would 1 draw thee to despair of finding 
Christ, if thou do but heartily seek him ; but this is the despair 
that I would persuade thee to, as thou lovest thy soul : that thou 
despair of ever being saved, except thou be born again ; or of 
seeing God, without holiness : or escaping perishing, except 
thou suddenly repent ; or of ever having part in Christ, except 
ihou love him above father, mother, or thy own life : or of ever 
H 



06 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

truly loving God, or being his servant, while thou lovest the 
world and servest it. 

These things I would have thee despair of, and whatever else 
God hath told thee shall never come to pass. And when thou 
hast sadly searched into thy own heart, and findest thyself in 
any of these cases, I would have thee despair of ever being sav- 
ed in that state thou art in. This kind of despair is one of the 
first steps to heaven. 

Consider, if a man be quite out of his way, what must be the 
first means to bring him in again ? Why, a despair of ever com- 
ing to his journey's end in the way that he is in. If his home 
be eastward, and he be going westward, as long as he hopes 
he is in the right, he will go on ; and as long as he goes on ho- 
ping, he goes further amiss. Therefore when he meets with 
somebody that assures him that he is clean out of his way, and 
brings him to despair of coming home except he turn back 
again ; then he will return, and then he may hope. 

Why, sinner, just so it is with thy soul; thou art out of the 
way to heaven, and in that way thou hast proceeded many a 
year ; yet thou goest on quietly, and hopest to be saved, because 
thou art not so bad as many others. W r hy, I tell thee, except 
thou throw away these hopes, and see that thou hast all this 
while been quite out of the way to heaven : I say, till thou 
be brought to this, thou wilt never return and be saved. Who 
will turn out of his way while he hopes he is right? Remember 
what I say ; till thou feel God convincing thee, that the way 
which thou hast lived in will not serve thy turn, and so break 
down thy former hopes, there is yet no saving work wrought 
upon thee, how well soever thou mayst hope of thyself. Yea, 
thus much more, if any thing keep thy soul out of heaven, there 
is nothing in the world likelier to do it, than thy false hopes of 
being saved, while thou art out of the way to salvation. 

3. Another additional loss, aggravating their loss of heaven, 
is this, they shall loose all their carnal mirth ; they will say to 
themselves (as Solomon doth) c of their laughter, thou art mad ; 
and of their mirth, what didst thou ?' Eccles. ii. 2. Their pleas- 
ant conceits are then ended, and their merry tales are all told, 
* their mirth was but as the crackling of thorns under a pot,' 
Eccles. vii. 6. It made a blaze for a while, but it was presently 
gone, and will return no more. They scorned to entertain any 
saddening thoughts : the talk of death and judgment was irk- 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 87 

same to them, because it damped their mirth : they could not 
endure to think of their sin or danger, because these thoughts 
did sad their spirits : they knew not what it was to weep for sin, 
or to humble themselves under the mighty hand of God: they 
could laugh away sorrow, and sing away cares, and drive away 
these melancholy thoughts : they thought if they should medi- 
tate, and pray, and mourn, as the godly do, their lives would be 
a continual misery. 

Alas, poor souls ! What a misery then will that life be, where 
you shall have nothing but sorrow; intense, heart-piercing, 
multiplied sorrow ? When you shall have neither the joys of the 
saints, nor your own former joysi **. Do you think there is one 
merry heart in hell? Or one joyful countenance, or jesting 
tongue ? You cry now, ; A little mirth is worth a great deal of 
sorrow:' but surely a little godly sorrow, which would have 
ended in eternal joy, had been more worth than a great deal of 
your foolish mirth, which will end in sorrow. 

4. Another additional loss will be this: they shall lose all 
their sensual delights ; that which they esteemed their chief 
good, their heaven, their false god, must they lose, as well as 
God himself. 

O what a fall will the proud ambitious man have from the top 
of his honours ! As his dust and bones will not be known from 
the dust and bones of the poorest beggars : so neither will his 
soul be honoured or favoured any more than theirs. What a 
number of the great, noble and learned, are now shut out of 
the presence of Christ ! They are shutout of their well contriv- 
ed houses and sumptuous buildings ; their comely chambers, 
with costly hangings ; their soft beds, and easy couches. They 
shall not find their gallant walks, their curious gardens, with 
variety of beauteous fruits and flowers; their rich pastures, 
and pleasant meadows, and plenteous harvest, and flocks and 
herds. Their tables will not be so spread and furnished, nor 
they so punctually attended and observed They have not 
their variety of daint} fare, or several courses, to please their 
appetites to the full. The rich man there fareth not delicious- 
ly every day, neither shall he wear there his purple and fine 
linen. 

O that sinners would remember this in the midst of their joli- 
ty, and say to one another, we must shortly reckon for this.—' 
Will the remembrance of it then be comfortable or terrible ? 



&3 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

will these delights accompany us to another world ? How shall 
we look each other in the face, if we meet in hell ? Will not the 
memorial of them be then our torment? Come, as we have 
sinned together, let us pray together before we stir, that God 
would pardon us, and let us enter into a promise with one anoth- 
er that we will do thus no more, but will meet together in the 
worship of God, and help one another towards heaven, as oft as 
we have met for our sinful merriments, in helping to deceive 

and destroy each other. This would be the way to prevent 

this sorrow, and a course that would comfort you, when you 
look back upon it hereafter* 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE GREATNESS OF THE TORMENTS OF THE DAMNED DIS- 
COVERED. 

Having thus shewed you how great their loss is, who are 
shut out of rest, and how it will be aggravated by those addi- 
tional losses which will accompany it ; 1 should next here shew 
you the greatness of those positive sufferings, which will accom- 
pany this loss. But 1 will not meddle with the quality of those 
sufferings, but only shew their greatness in some few discove- 
ries, lest the careless sinner, while he hears of no other punish- 
ment but that of loss, should think he can bear that well enough. 
That there are, besides the loss of happiness, actual, sensible 
torments for the damned, is a matter beyond all doubt, and that 
they will be exceeding great, may appear by these arguments 
following. 

1. From the principal author of them, which is God himself: 
as it was no less than God whom the sinners had offended, so it 
is no less than God that will punish them for their offences. He 
hath prepared those torments for his enemies. His continued 
anger will still be devouring them. His breath of indignation 
will kindle the flames. His wrath will be an intolerable burden 
to their souls. If it were but a creature that they had to do with, 
they might better bear it. But wo to him that falls under the 
strokes of the Almighty ! They shall feel to their sorrow, ' That 
it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.' It 
were nothing in comparison to this, if all the world were against 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 89 

them, or if the strength of all the creatures were united in one 
to inflict their penalty. What a consuming fire is his wrath ! 
1 If it be kindled here, and that but a little,' how do we wither 
before it, ' as the grass that is cut down before the sun !' How 
soon doth our strength decay, and turn to weakness, and our 
beauty to deformity ! The flames do not so easily run through 
the dry stubble, as the wrath of God will feed upon these 
wretches. Oh, they that could not bear a prison, or a gibbet, 
for Christ, scarce a few scorns, how will they now bear the de- 
vouring fire ! 

2. The place or state of torment is purposely ordained for the 
glorifying God's justice. As all the works of God are great 
and wonderful, so those above all, which are specially intended 
for the eminent advancing of some of his attributes. When he 
will glorify his power, he makes the worlds. The comely order 
of all and singular creatures, declare his wisdom. His provi- 
dence is shewn, in sustaining ail things, and maintaining order 
and attending his excellent ends, amongst the confused, per- 
verse, tumultuous agitations of a world of wicked, foolish, self- 
destroying miscreants. When a spark of his wrath doth kindle 
upon the earth, the whole world, save only eight persons, are 
drowned, Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, are burnt 
with fire from heaven to ashes. The sea shuts her mouth upon 
some. The earth doth open and swallow others. The pestilence 
destroyeth them by thousands. The present deplorable state of 
the Jews may fully testify this to the world. And yet the glori- 
fying of the two great attributes of mercy and justice, is inten- 
ded most eminently for the life to come. As therefore when 
God will purposely glorify his mercy, he will doit in a way that 
is now beyond the comprehension of the saints that must enjoy 
it ; so that the blood of his Son, and the enjoyment of himself 
immediately in glory, shall not be thought too high an honour 
for them : so also, when the time comes that he will purposely 
manifest his justice, it shall appear to be indeed the justice of 
God. The everlasting flames of hell will not be thought too 
hot for the rebellious ; and when they have there burned 
through millions of ages, he will not repent him of the evil 
which is befallen them. Oh, wo to the soul that is thus set up 
for a butt, for the wrath of the Almighty to shoot at ! and for a 
bush that must burn in the flames of his jealousy, and never 
be consumed I 



90 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

3. Consider who shall be God's executioners of their torment ; 
and that is. first, Satan. Secondly, themselves. First, he that 
was here so successful in drawing them from Christ, will then 
be the instrument of their punishment, for yielding 1 to his temp- 
tations. It was a pitiful sight to see the man possessed, that was 
bound with chains, and lived among tombs ; and that other thai 
would be cast into the fire and into the water : but alas ! that 
was nothing to the torment that Satan puts them to in hell : that 
is the reward he will give them for all their service ; for their 
rejecting the commands of God, and forsaking Christ, and neg- 
lecting their souls at his persuasion. Ah, if they had served 
Christ, as faithfully as they did Satan, he would have given them 
a better reward. 2. And it is most just also, that they should 
there be their own tormentors, that they may see that their 
whole destruction is of themselves ; and they who were wilfully 
the meritorious cause, should also be the efficient in their own 
sufferings ; and then who can they complain of but them- 
selves ? 

4. Consider also that their torment will be universal, not 
upon one part alone, while the rest are free ; but as all have 
joined in the sin, so must all partake of the torment. The soul, 
as it was the chief in sinning, shall be ihe chief in suffering : 
and as it is of a more spiritual and excellent nature than bodies 
are, so will its torments far exceed bodily sufferings. And as 
the joys of the soul far surpass all sensual pleasures, so the pains 
of the soul surpass corporal pains. 

And it is not only a soul, but a sinful soul that must suffer : 
the guilt which still remains upon it, will make it fit for the 
wrath of G?8d to work upon : as fire will not burn, except the 
fuel be combustible ; but if the wood be dry, how fiercely will it 
burn then ! The guilt of their sins will be as tinder to gunpow- 
der to the damned soul, to make the flames of hell take hold 
upon them with fury. 

And as the soul, so also the body must bear its part. That 
body that must needs be pleased, whatsoever became of its eter- 
nal safety, shall now be paid for its unlawful pleasures. That 
body which was so carefully looked to, so tenderly cherished 

That body which could not endure heat or cold, or an ill 

smell, or a loathsome sight : Oh what must it now endure ! how 
are its haughty looks now taken down \ how little will those 
fiames regard its comeliness and beauty ! but as death did not 
regard it, nor the worms regard it, but as freely fed upon the 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 91 

face of the proud and lustful dames, and the heart of the most 
ambitious lords and princes, as if they had been but beggars ; so 
will their tormentors then as little pity their tenderness, or rev- 
erence their lordliness. Those eyes which were wont to be de- 
lighted with curious sights, must then see nothing, but what 
shall amaze and terrify them ; an angry God above them, and 
those saints whom they scorned, enjoying the glory which they 
have lost ; and about them will be only devils and damned souls : 
ah ! then how sadly will they look back and say, are all our feasts, 
our games and revels come to this ! Then those ears which 
were wont to be delighted with music, shall hear the shrieks 
and cries of their damned companions ; children crying out 
against their parents, that gave them encouragement and ex- 
ample in evil ; husbands crying out upon their wives, and wives 
upon'their husbands ; masters and servants cursing each other ; 
ministers and people ; magistrates and subjects, charging their 
misery upon one another, for discouraging in duty, conniving 
at sin, and being silent or formal when they should have plainly 
told one another of their misery, and fore- warned them of their 
danger. Thus will soul and body be companions in calamity. 

5. And the greater by far will their torments be, because 
they shall have no comfort left to mitigate} them. In this life, 
when a minister told them of hell, or conscience began to 
trouble their peace, they had comforts enough at hand to re- 
lieve them : their carnal friends were all ready to comfort 
them, but now they have not a word of comfort, either for him 
or themselves. Formerly they had their business, their com- 
pany, their mirth, to drive away their fears ; they could drink 
away their sorrows, or play them away, or sleep them away, 
or at least, time did wear them away ; but now all these reme- 
dies are vanished. They had a hard, a presumptuous unbe- 
lieving heart, which was a wall to defend them against troubles 
of mind; but now their experience hath banished these, and 
left them naked to the fury of those flames. Yea, formerly 
Satan himself was their comforter, and would unsay all that 
the minister said against them, as he did to our frst mother, — 
"Hath Gad said, Ye shall not eat? Ye shall not surely die. 5 
So doth he now : doth God tell you that you shall lie in hell ? 
it is no such matter ; God is more merciful : he doth but tell 
you so to fright you from sinning : or if there be a hell, what 
need you fear it ? are sot you christians ? and shall you not be 



S2 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

saved by Christ ? was not his blood shed for you ? Ministers 
may tell you what they please, they would make men believe 
that they shall all be damned except they will fit themselves 
to their humour. Thus as the Spirit of Christ is the comforter 
of the saints, so Satan is the comforter of the wicked : for he 
knows if he should now disquiet them, they would no longer 
serve him: or if fears or doubts should trouble them, they 
would bethink themselves of their danger. Never was a thief 
more careful lest he should awake the people, when he is rob- 
bing the house, than Satan is, not to awaken a sinner. But 
when the sinner is dead, and he hath his prey, then he hath 
done flattering and comforting them. W hile the sight of sia 
and misery might have helped to save them, he took all the 
pains he could to hide it from their eyes; but when it is too 
late, and there is no hope left, he will make them see and feel 
to the utmost. Oh, which way will the forlorn sinner then 
look for comfort ! They that drew him into the snare, and pro- 
mised him safety, now forsake him, and are forsaken them- 
selves. His ancient comforts are taken from him, and the 
righteous God, whose forewarning he made light of, will now 
make good his word against him to the least tittle. 

6. But the great aggravation of this misery, will be its eter- 
nity. That when a thousand millions of ages are past, their 
torments are as fresh to begin as at the first day. If there were 
any hope of an end, it would ease them to foresee it ; but when 
it must be for ever so, that thought is intolerable : much more 
will the misery itself be. They never heartily repented of 
their sin, and God will never repent him of their suffering. — 
They broke the laws of the eternal God ; and therefore shall 
suffer eternal punishment. They knew it was an everlasting 
kingdom which they refused; and therefore what wonder if 
they be everlastingly shut out of it ? It was their immortal souls 
that were guilty of the trespass, and therefore must immortally 
suffer the pains. What happy men would they think them- 
selves, if they might have lain still in their graves 7 or continued 
dust, or suffered no worse than the gnawing of those worms !■ — 
Oh that they might but there lie down again ! What a mercy 
now would it be to die ! And how will they call and cry out for 
it ? O death ! whither art thou gone ? Now come and cut off 
this doleful life. O that these ppins would break my heart, 
and end my being I O that I might once die at last ! O that I 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 93 

bad never had a being! — These groans will the thoughts of 
eternity wring from their hearts. They were wont to think 
the sermon long, and prayer long ; how long then will they 
think these endless torments ? What difference is there betwixt 
the length of their pleasures and of their pains? The one con- 
tinueth but a moment, the other endureth through all eternity. 
Oh that sinners would lay this thought to heart. Remember 
how time is almost gone. Thou art standing all this while at 
the door of eternity ; and death is waiting to open the door, and 
put thee in. Go sleep out but a few more nights, and stir up 
and down on earth a few more days, and then thy nights, and 
days shall end : thy thoughts, and cares, and pleasures, and all 
shall be devoured by eternity : thou must enter upon the state 
which shall never be changed. As the joys of heaven are be- 
yond our conceiving, so also are the pains of hell. Everlasting 
torment is inconceivable torment. 

But methinks I perceive the obstinate sinner desperately re- 
solving, If 1 must be damned, there is no remedy ; rather than 
I will live so precisely, J will put it to the venture ; 1 shall 
escape as well as the rest of my neighbours, and we will 
even bear it as well as we can. — Alas, poor creature ! would 
thou didst but know what it is that thou dost so boldly 
venture on : I dare say thou wouldst sleep this night but very 
unquietly. Wilt thou leave thyself no room for hope ? Art thou 
such an implacable enemy to Christ and thy own soul ? and dost 
thou think indeed, that thou canst bear the wrath of God, and 
go away so easily with these eternal torments ? Yet let me beg 
this of thee, that before thou dost so flatly resolve, thou wouldst 
lend thine attention to these few questions. 

First, Who art thou that thou shouldst bear the wrath of God ! 
Art thou a God ; or art thou a man ? What is thy strength to 
undergo so much? Is it not as the strength of wax or stubble 
to resist the fire ? or as chaff to the wind ; or as dust before the 
whirlwind ? Was he not as stout a man as thyself, who cried to 
God, ' Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? And wilt thou 
pursue the dry stubble ?' If thy strength were as iron, and thy 
bones as brass, thou couldst not bear. If thy foundation were 
as the earth, and thy power as the heavens, yet shouldst thou 
perish at the breath of his indignation* How much more when 
thou art but a little, creeping, breathing clay, kept a few days 



94 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

from stinking", and from being eaten with worms, by the mere 
support and favour of him whom thou thus resistest ? 

Secondly. If thou be so strong", and thy heart so stout, why do 
those small sufferings so dismay thee ? if thou have but a fit of 
the gout or stone, what groans dost thou utter? The house is 
filled with thy complaints. Jf thou shouldst but lose a leg or an 
arm, thou wouldst make a great mailer of it. If thou lose 
thine estate, and fall into poverty and disgrace ; how heavily 
wouldst thou bear any one of these ? And yet all these laid to- 
gether, will be one day accounted a nappy state, in comparison 
of that which is suffered in hell. Lei me see thee make as 
light of convulsive, gouty, rheumatic pains, when they seize 
upon thee, and then the strength of thy spirit will appear. — 
Alas, how many such boasters as thyself have I seen made to 
stoop and eat their words ! And when God hath but let out a 
little of his wrath, that Pharaoh, who before asked, ' Who is 
the Lord ?' hath cried, ' I have sinned.' 

Thirdly, If all this be nothing, go try thy strength by some 
corporal torment ; as Bilney before he went to the stake, would 
first try hi finger in the candle : so do thou ; hold thy finger 
awhile in the fire, and feel there whether thou canst endure 
the fire of hell. Austin mentioned a chaste christian woman, 
who being tempted to uncleanness by a lewd ruffian, she de- 
sired him for her sake to hold his finger one hour in the fire ; 
he answered, it is an unreasonable request : how much more 
unreasonable is it, said she, that 1 should burn in hell for the 
satisfying your lust ? So say I to thee ; if it be an intolerable 
thing to suffer the heat of the fire for a year, or a day, or an 
hour, what will it be to suffer ten thousand times more for ever? 
What if thou wert to suffer Lawrence's death to be roasted 
upon a grid-iron ; or to be scraped or pricked to death, as 
other martyrs were ? If thou could not endure such thiugs as 
these, how wilt thou endure the eternal flames ? 

Fourthly , If thou be so fearless of that eternal misery, why 
is the least foretaste of it so terrible ! Didst thou never feel 
such a thing as a tormenting conscience ? If thou hast not, thou 
shalt do. Didst thou never see and speak with a man that liv- 
ed in desperation, or in some degree of these wounds of spirit 
that was near despair ? How uncomfortable was their confer- 
ence ! How burdensome their lives ? Nothing doth them good 
which they possess ; the sight of friends, or house, or goods, 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 95 

which refresheth others, is a trouble to them : they feel no 
sweetness in meat or drink ; they are weary of life, and fearful 
of death. What is the matter with these men ? If the misery 
of the damned itself can be endured, why cannot they more 
easily endure these little sparks. 

Fifthly, Tell me faithfully, what if thou shouldst but see the 
devil appear to thee in some terrible shape, would it not daunt 
thee? What if thou shouldst meet him in thy way home, or he 
should shew himself to thee at night in thy bed chamber, would 
not thy heart fail thee, and thy hair stand on end ? I could name 
thee those that have been as confident as thyself, who, by such 
a sight have been so appalled, that they were in danger of be- 
ing driven out of their wits. Or what if some damned soul, of 
thy former acquaintance, should appear to thee, would not this 
amaze thee ? Alas ! what is this to the torments of hell? Canst 
thou not endure a shadow to appear before thee? O how wilt 
thou endure to live with them for ever, where thou shait have 
no other company but devils and the damned : and shalt not 
only see them, but be tormented with them and by them ? 

Lastly, Let me ask thee, if the wrath of God be to be made 
so light of, why did the Son of God himself make so great a 
matter of it ? When he had taken upon him the payment of our 
debt, and bore that punishment we had deserved, it makes him 
sweat water and blood ; it makes the Lord of life to cry, 4 My 
soul is heavy, even to the death.' It makes him cry out upon 
the cross, ' My God, my Goi 9 why hast thou forsaken me ?' — 
Surely if any one could have borne these sufferings, it would 
have been Jesus Christ. He had another measure of strength 
to bear it than thou hast. 

Wo to poor sinners for their mad security ! Do they think to 
find that tolerable to them which was so heavy to Christ ? jNay, 
the Son of God is cast into a bitter agony, and bloody sweat, 
under the curse of the law only ; and yet the feeble, foolish 
creature makes nothing to bear also the curse of the gospel; 
the good Lord bring these men to their right minds by repent- 
ance, lest they buy their wit at too dear a rate. 

And thus I have shewn you somewhat of their misery, who 
iniss of this rest prepared for the saints. And now, reader, I 
demand thy resolution, what use thou wilt make of all this ? 
Shall it all be lost to thee ? Or wilt thou consider it in good 
earnest ? Thou hast cast by many a warning of God, wilt thou 



96 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

do so by this also ? Take heed >hat thou dost, and how thou 
resolvest. God will net always stand warning and threaten- 
ing. The hand of revenge is lifted up; the blow is coming, 
and wo to him on whom it lighteth. Little thinkest thou how 
near thou standest to thy eternal state and how near the pit 
thou art dancing in thy jollity. If thy eyes were but opened, 
as they will be shortly, thou would see all this that 1 have 
spoken before thine eyes, without stirring from the place in 
which thou standest. Dost thou throw by the book, and say,' 
speaks of nothing but hell and damnation ? Thus thou usest 
also to complain of the minister ; but wouldst thou not have us 
tel) thee of these things ? Should we be guilty of the blood of 
thy soul, by keeping silent that which God hath charged us to 
make known ? Wouldst thou perish in ease and silence, and 
also ituveu-i to perish with thee, rather than displease thee, by 
speaking thetrutn? If thou wilt be guilty of such inhuman cru- 
elty 7 , God forbid we should be guilty of such sottish folly ! 

There are tew preachers so simple, but they know that this 
kind of preaching is ihe ready way to be hated of their hear- 
ers : and the desire of the favour of men is so natural, that few 
dehght in such a displeasing way But T beseech thee, con- 
sider, are ihese things true, or are they not ? If the> were not 
true, i would heartily join with «hee against any minister that 
should oiFer to preach them, and to affright poor people when 
there is n<) cause. But if these threatenings be the word of 
God, what a wretch art thou that wouldst not hear it, or con- 
sider it. Why, what is he matter? If thou be sure that thou 
art one of the people of God, this doctrine will be a comfort to 
thee : but if thou be vet unregenerate, methinks thou shouldst 
be as fearful to hear of heaven as of hell, except the bare name 
of heaven or salvation be sufficient. Sure there is no doctrine 
concerning heaven in all the scripture, that can give thee any 
comfort, but upen the supposal of thy conversion ; what com- 
, fort is it to thee, to hear that there is a rest remaining to the 
people of God, except thou be one of them? Nay, what 
more terrible, than to read of Christ and salvation for others, 
when thou must be shut out ? Therefore, except thou wouldst 
have a minister to preach a lie, it is all one to thee, for any 
comfort thou hast in it, whether he preach of heaven or hell to 
thee. His preaching heaven and mercy to thee, can be noth • 



T£H£ SAINTS EV*ErRLASTING REST. 97 

mg else but to entreat thee to seek them ; but he can make 
thee no promise of it, but upon condition of thy obeying the 
gospel ; and his preaching hell, is but to persuade thee to 
avoid it. And is not this doctrine fit for thee to hear ? Indeed 
if thou wert quite past hope of escaping it, then it were in vain 
to tell thee of heli, but rather let thee take a few merry hours 
whilst thou mayest; but as long as thou art alive, there is hope 
of thy recovery, and therefore all means must be used to awake 
thee from thy lethargy. 

O that some son of thunder, who could speak as Paul, till the 
hearers tremble, were now to preach this doctrine to thee ! 
Alas ! as terrible as you think 1 speak, yet it is not the thou- 
sandth part of what must be felt ; for what heart can now con- 
ceive, or what tongue express the pains of those souls that are 
under the wrath of God r Ah, that ever blind sinners should 
wilfully bring themselves to such unspeakable misery ! You 
will then be crying to Jesus Christ, Oh mercy ! Oh pity ! Why 
1 do now in the name of the Lord Jesus cry to thee, O have 
mercy, have pity upon thine own soul ! Shall God pity thee, who 
wilt not be entreated to pity thyself? If thy horse see but a pit 
before him, thou canst scarcely force him in ; and wilt thou so 
obstinately cast thyself into hell, when the danger is foretold 
thee ! c O who can stand before the Lord, and who can abide 
the fierceness of his anger !' Methinks thou shouldst need no 
more words, but presently cast away thy sins, and deliver up 
thyself to Christ. Resolve on it immediately, and let it be 
done, that I may see thy face in rest among the saints. The 
Lord persuade thy heart to it without longer delay : but if thou 
be hardened unto death, and there be no remedy, yet do not 
say another day, but that thou wast faithfully warned, and that 
thou hadst a friend that would fain have prevented thy dam- 
nation, 



98 THE SAINTS ETMILASTING REST 



CHAPTER V. 

THE SECOND tJSE REPREHENDING THE GENERAL NEGLECT OF 
THIS REST, AND EXCITING TO DILIGENCE IN SEEKING IT. 

I come now to the second use. If there be so certain and 
glorious a re3t, why is there no more seeking after it ! One 
would think that a man that did but once bear of such unspeak- 
able glory, and did believe what he heareth to be true, should 
be transported with desire after it, should almost forget to eat 
or drink, and mi.id and care for nothing else, and speak of and 
inquire after nothing, but how to get this treasure ! And yet 
people who hear it daily, and profess to believe it, do as little 
mind it, or care, or labour for it, as if they had never heard of 
any such thing, or did not believe one word that they hear. 

1 shall apply this reproof more particularly to four sorts of 
men : First, the worldly-minded, who is so taken up in seeking 
the things below, that he hath neither heart nor time to seek 
this rest. 

May I not well say to these men, as Paul to the Galatians in 
another case, Foolish sinners ! ■ who hath bewitched you ?' It 
is not for nothing that divioes used to call the world a witch : 
for as in witchcraft, men's lives, senses, goods, or cattle are de- 
stroyed by a strange, secret, unseen power of the devil, of 
which a man can give no natural reason ; so here, men will 
destroy their own souls in a way quite against their own knowl- 
edge. Would not a man wonder, that is in his right senses, to 
see what riding and running, what scrambling and catching 
there is for a thing of nought, while eternal rest lies by ne- 
glected ! What contriving and caring, what fighting and blood- 
shed, to get a step higher in the world than their brethren, 
while they neglect the kingly dignity of the saints! What in- 
satiable pursuit of fleshly pleasures, whilst they look upon the 
praises of God, which is the joy of angels, as a burden ! What 
unwearied diligence is there in raising their posterity, enlarg- 
ing their possessions, gathering a little silver or gold ! Yea, 
perhaps for a poor living from hand to mouth, while in the mean 
time U»eir judgment is drawing near; and yet how it shall go 
with them then, or how they shall live eternally, did never put 
them to one hour's sober consideration. 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 



99 



What rising up early, sitting* up late, labouring and caring 
year after year, to maintain themselves and children in credit 
till they die ; but what shall follow after, that they never think 
on ; and yet these men cry to us, may not a man be saved with- 
out so much ado? How early do they rouse up their servants 
to their labour ! [Up, come away to work, we have this to do, 
and that to do ;] but how seldom do they call them [Up, you 
have your soul to look to, you have everlasting life to provide 
for; up to prayer, to the reading of the scripture.] 

What a gadding up and down the world is here, like a com- 
pany of ants upon a hillock, takiDg incessant pains to gather a 
treasure, which death will spurn abroad, as if it were such an 
excellent thing to die in the midst of wealth and honours ! Or 
as if it would be such a comfort to a man in another world, to 
think that he was a lord, or a knight, or a gentleman, or a rich 
man on earth ? What hath this world done for its lovers and 
friends, that it is so eagerly followed, and painfully sought af- 
ter, while Christ and heaven staud by and few regard them ? 
Or what will the world do for them for the time to come ? The 
common entrance into it is through anguish and sorrow. The 
passage through it is with continual care and labour. The pas- 
sage out of it is with the greatest sharpness and sadness of alL 
What then doth cause men so much to follow and affect it ? O 
unreasonable, bewitched men ! Will mirth and pleasure stick 
close to you ? Will gold and worldly glory prove fast friends to 
you in the time of your greatest need ? Will they hear your 
cries in the day of your calamity ? If a man should say to you, 
as Elias did to Baal's priests, ' cry aloud :' Oh riches, or hon« 
our, now help us ! Will they either answer or relieve you ? 
Will they go along with you to another world, and bribe the 
judge, and bring you off clear ; or purchase you a room among 
the blessed ? Why then did so rich a man want a drop of water 
to cool his tongue ? Or are the sweet morsels of present delight 
and honour of more worth than eternal rest ? and will they re- 
compense the loss of that enduring treasure? Can there be the 
least hope of any of these ? What then is the matter ? Is it only 
a room for our dead bodies that we are so much beholden to the 
world for ? Why this is the last and longest courtesy that we 
shall receive from it. But we shall have this whether we 
serve it or no; and even that homely, dusty dwelling, it will 
not afford us always neither ; it shall possess our dust but till 



100 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

the resurrection. How then doth the world deserve so well at 
men's hands, that they should part with Christ and their salva- 
tion, to be its followers ? Ah vile deceitful world ! how oft have 
we heard thy faithfullest servants at last complaining, Oh the 
world hath deceived me, and undone me ! And yet succeeding 
sinners will take no warning 1 . 

So this is the first sort of neglecters of heaven which fall un- 
der this reproof. 

2. The second sort here to be reproved, are the profane, un- 
godly, presumptuous multitude, who will not be persuaded to 
be at so much pains for salvation, as to perform the common 
outward duties of religion. Yea, though they are convinced 
that these duties are commanded, yet will they not be brought 
to the common practice of them. If they have the gospel 
preached in the town where they dwell, it may be they will 
give the hearing to it one part of the day, and stay at home the 
other; or if the master come to the congregation, yet part of 
his family must stay at home. If they want the plain and pow- 
erful preaching of the gospel, how few are there in a whole 
town who will travel a mile or two to hear abroad, though they 
will go many miles to the market for their bodies. 

And though they know the scripture is the law of God, by 
which they must be acquitted or condemned in judgment ; and 
that it is the property of every blessed man to delight in this 
law, and to meditate in it day and night, ) r et will they not be at 
the pains to read a chapter once a day, nor to acquaint their 
families with this doctrine of salvation. But if they carry a 
bible to church, and let it lie by them all the week, this is the 
most use that they make of it. And though they are command- 
ed to c pray without ceasing;' and to c pray always, and not to 
faint;' to* continue in prayer and watch in the same with 
thanksgiving;' yet will they not pray constantly with their 
families, or in secret. You may hear in their houses two oaths 
for one prayer. Or if they do any thing this way, it is usually 
but a running over a few format words which they have got on 
their tongues' end, as if they came on purpose to make a jest of 
prayer, and to mock God and their own souls. 

Alas ! he that only reads in a book that he is miserable, and 
what his soul stands in need of, but never felt himself misera- 
ble, or felt his several wants, no wonder if he must also fetch his 
prayer from his book only, or at farthest from the strength of hii 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 101 

memory. Solomon's request to God was, that ' what prayer or 
supplication soever should be made by any man, or by all the 
people, when every man shall know his own sore, and his own 
grief, and shall spread forth his hands before God, that God 
would then hear and forgive,' 2 Chron. vi. 29, 30. If these 
men did thus know and feel every man the sore, and the grief 
of his own soul, we should neither need so much to urge them 
to prayer, nor to teach them how to perform it. Whereas now 
they invite God to be backward in giving, by their backward- 
ness in asking ; and to be weary of relieving them by their own 
being weary of begging : and to be seldom and short in his fa- 
vours, as they are in their prayers; and to give them but com- 
mon and outward favours, as they put up but common and out- 
side requests. Yea, their cold and heartless prayers invite 
God to a flat denial : for among men it is taken for granted, 
that he who asks but slightly and seldom, cares not much for 
what he asks. Do not these men judge themselves unworthy 
of heaven, who think it not worth their more constant and 
earnest requests? If it be not worth asking for, it is worth 
nothing. And yet if one should go from house to house, 
through town and parish, and inquire at every house as you 
go, whether they do morning and evening call their family to- 
gether, and earnestly seek the Lord in prayer ; how few would 
you find that constantly and conscientiously practise this duty ? 
If every door were marked where they do not thus call upon the 
name of God, that his wrath might be poured out upon that 
family, our towns would be as places overthrown by the plague, 
the people being dead within, and the mark of judgment with- 
out. I fear where one house would escape, ten would be mark- 
ed out for death; then they might teach their doors to pray, 
Lord have mercy upon us ; because the people would not pray 
themselves. But especially if you could see what men do in 
their secret chambers, how few should you find in a whole town 
that spend one quarter of an hour, morning and night, in ear- 
nest supplication to God for their souls ? Oh how little do these 
men set by eternal rest I 

Thus do they slothfully neglect all endeavours for their own 
welfare, except some public duty in the congregation, which 
custom or credit doth engage them to. Persuade them to read 
good books, and they will not be at so much pains. Persuade 
them to learn the grounds of religion in some catechism, andl 



102 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING RESTo 

they think it toilsome slavery, fit for school- boys. Persuade 
them to sanctify the Lord's day, and to spend it wholly in hear- 
ing the word, and repeating it with their families, and prayer 
and meditation, and to forbear all their worldly thoughts and 
speeches ; and what a tedious life do they take this to be ; and 
how long may you preach to them, before they will be brought 
to it? As if they thought heaven were not worth all this ado. 
3. The third sort that fall under this reproof, are those self- 
cozening, formal, lazy professors of religion, who will be 
brought to any outward duty, but to the inward work they will 
never be persuaded. They will preach, or hear, or read, or 
talk of heaven, or pray customarily or constantly in their fam- 
ilies, and take part with the persons and causes that are good ; 
and desire to be esteemed among the godly, but you can never 
bring them to the more spiritual duties : as to be constant and 
fervent in secret prayer; to be conscientious in the duty of 
self-examination, to be constant in meditation, to be heavenly- 
minded, to watch constantly over their heart, and words, and 
ways, to deny their bodily senses and their delights, to mortify 
the flesh, and not make provision for it, to fulfil its lusts ; to 
love and heartily forgive an enemy, and to prefer their breth- 
ren heartily before themselves. The outside hypocrites will 
never be persuaded to any of these. Abote all other, two 
sorts there are of these hypocrites. 

1. The superficial opinionative hypocrite. 

2. The worldly hypocrite. 

The former entertaineth the doctrine of the gospel with joy ; 
but it is only in the surface of his soul, he never gives the seed 
any depth of earth. He changeth his opinion, and thereupon 
engageth for religion, as the right way, but it never melted and 
new-moulded his heart, nor set up Christ there in full power 
and authority : as his religion is but opinion, so is his study, 
and conference, and chief business all about opinion. He is 
usually an ignorant, proud, bold inquirer and babbler about 
controversies, rather than an humble embracer of the known 
truth, with love and subjection : you may conjecture by his 
bold and forward tongue, and conceitedness in his own opinions, 
and slighting the judgments and persons of others, and seldom 
talking of the great things of Christ with seriousness and humil- 
ity — that his religion dwelleth in the brafn, and not in his heart ; 
where the wind of temptation assaults him, he easily yieldeth. 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 103 

and it carrieth him away as a feather, because his heart is emp- 
ty, and not balanced and established with Chrjstand grace. If 
this man's judgment lead him in the ceremonious way, then 
doth he employ his chief zeal for ceremonies. If bis judgment 
be against ceremonies, then his strongest zeal is employed in 
studying, talking, disputing against them, and censuring the 
users of them. For, not having the essentials of Christianity, he 
hath only the mint and cummin, the smaller matters of the law, 
to lay out his zeal upon. You shall never hear any humble 
and hearty bewailings of his soul's imperfections, or any heart- 
bleeding acknowledgments of his unkindnesses to Christ, of 
any pantings and longings aftee him, from this man ; but that 
he is of such a judgment, or such a religion, or society, or a 
member of such a church : herein doth he gather his greatest 
comforts ; but the inward and spiritual labours of a christian he 
will not be brought to. 

The like may be said of tbe worldly hypocrite, who choaketh 
the doctrine of the gospel with the thorns of worldly cares and 
desires. His judgment is convinced that he must be religious, 
or he cannot be saved ; and therefore he reads, and hears, and 
prays, and forsakes liis former company and courses ; but be- 
cause his belief of the gospel-doctrine is but wavering and 
shallow, he resolves to keep his bold of present things ; and yet 
to be religious, that so he may have heaven, when he can keep 
the world no longer. This man's judgment may say, God is 
the chief good, but his heart and affections never said so, but 
looked upon God as to be tolerated rather than the flames of 
hell, but not desired before the felicity on earth. In a word, 
the world hath more of his affections than God, and therefore 
is his god. This he might easily know and feel, if he would 
judge impartially, and were but faithful to himself. And though 
this man does not gad after novelties in religion as the former, 
yet will he set his sails to the wind of worldly advantage. And 
as a man whose spirits are seized on by some pestilential malig- 
nity, is feeble and faint, and heartless in all that he does ; so 
this man's spirits being possessed by the plague of this malig- 
nant, worldly disposition, how faint is he in secret prayer! How? 
superficial in examination and meditation \ How feeble in 
heart-watchings, and humbling, mortifying endeavours ! How 
nothing at all in loving and walking with God, rejoicing in him, 
or desiring him ! So that both these, and many other sorts oi 



104 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

lazy hypocrites there are, who, though they will trudge on with 
you in the easy outside of religion, yet will never be at the 
pains of inward and spiritual duties. 

4. And even good men themselves deserve this reproof, for 
being too lazy seekers of everlasting rest. Alas, what a dis- 
proportion is there between our light and our heat ! our pro- 
fessions and prosecutions ! Who makes that haste, as if it were 
for heaven ? How still we stand ! How idly we work ! How 
we talk, and jest, and trifle away our time I How deceitfully 
we do the work of God ! How we hear, as if we heard not ; 
and pray, as if we prayed not ; and confer, and examine, and 
meditate, and reprove sin, as if we did it not; and use the or- 
dinances, as if we used them not; and enjoy Christ, as if we 
enjoyed him not ; as if we had learned to use the things of 
heaven, as the apostle teacheth us to use the world ! Who 
would think that stood by us, and heard us pray in private or 
public, that we were praying for no less than everlasting glo- 
ry ? Should heaven be sought no more earnestly than thus ? 
Methinks we are none of us all in good sadness for our souls. 
We do but dally with the work of God, and play with Christ, as 
children play with their meat when they should eat it; we 
hang upon ordinances from day to day, but we stir not our- 
selves to seek the Lord. 

1 see a great many very constant in hearing and praying, 
but they do not hear and pray as if it were for their lives. Oh, 
what a frozen stupidity hath benumbed us ! The plague of 
Lot's wife is upon us, as if we were changed into lifeless and 
immoveable pillars ; we are dying, and we know it, and yet 
we stir not ! we are at the door of eternal happiness or mise- 
ry, and yet we perceive it not : death knocks, and we hear it 
not : Christ calls and knocks, and we hear not : God cries to 
us, 'To-day if you will hear my voice, harden not your hearts. 
Work while it is day, for the night cometh when none can 
work.' Now ply your business, now labour for your lives ; 
now lay out all your strength. Now or never ; and yet we 
stir no more than if we were half asleep. What haste do 
death and judgment make ! How fast do they come on ! They 
are almost at us, and yet what little haste make we ! The 
spur of God is in our side, we bleed, we groan, and yet we do 
not mend our pace. Lord, what a senseless, sottish, earthly, 
hellish thiDg, is a hard heart ! That we will not go roundly and 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 105 

cheerfully toward heaven without all this ado t No, nor with 
it neither ! Where is the man that is serious in his Christianity ? 
Methinks men every where make but a trifle of their eternal 
state. They look after it but a little by the by; they do not 
make it the task and business of their lives. 

To be plain with you, I think nothing undoes men so much 
as complimenting* and jesting in religion. Ob,^f I were not 
sick myself of the same disease, with what tears would I mix 
this ink ; and with what groans should I express these sad com- 
plaints ; and with what heart's grief should 1 mourn over this 
universal deadness ! Do the magistrates among us seriously 
perform their portion of the work ? are they zealous for God ? 
do they build up his house ? are they tender of his honour ? do 
they second the word ? encourage the good ? relieve the op- 
pressed ? compassionate the distressed? and fly at the face of 
sin and sinners, as being the disturbers of our peace, and the 
only cause of all our miseries ? do they study how to do the ut- 
most they can for God? to improve their power and parts, and 
wealth and honour, and all their interest for their greatest ad- 
vantage to the kingdom of Christ, as men that must shortly 
give an account of their stewardship ? or do they build their 
own houses, and seek their advancements, and contest for their 
own honours and do no more for Christ than needs they must, or 
than lies in their way, or than is put by others into their hands, 
or than stands with the pleasing of their friends, or with their 
worldly interest ? 

And how thin are those ministers that are serious in their 
work! Nay, how mightily do the very best fail in this ! Do we 
cry out of men's disobedience to the gospel, in the evidence 
and power of the Spirit, and deal with sin, as that which is the 
fire in our towns and houses, and by force pull men out of this 
fire ? Do we persuade our people, as those that know the ter- 
rors of the Lord should do ? Do we press Christ, and regenera- 
tion, and faith, and holiness, as men that believe indeed, that 
without these they shall never have life ? Do our bowels yearn 
over the ignorant, and the careless, and the obstinate multitude, 
as men that believe their own doctrine ? When we look them 
in the face, do our hearts melt over them, lest we should never 
see their faces in rest ? Do we, as Paul, tell them weeping, of 
their fleshly and earthly disposition ? and teach them publicly, 
and from house to house, night and day with tears ? And do wo 

i 



108 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

entreat them, as if it were indeed for their lives ? that when we 
speak of the joys and miseries of another world, our people may 
see us affected accordingly, and perceive that we mean as we 
speak ? Or rather, do we not study words ? As if a minister's 
business were but to tell them a smooth tale of an hour long", 
and so look no more after them till the next sermon. 

Oh the formal, frozen, lifeless sermons which we daily hear 
preached upon the most weighty, piercing" subjects in the 
world ! How gently do we handle those sins, which will handle 
so cruelly our people's souls ! And how tenderly do we deal 
with their careless hearts, not speaking to them as men that 
must be awakened or damned ! We toll them of heaven and 
hell in such a sleepy tone, and slight way, as if we were but act- 
ing a part in a play ; so that we usually preach our people 
asleep with those subjects, which one would think should rath- 
er endanger the driving some beside themselves. 

In a word our want of seriousness about the things of heaven, 
dolh charm the souls of men into formality, and hath brought 
them to this customary, careless hearing, which undoes them. 
The Lord pardon the great sin of the ministry in this thing, and, 
in particular, ray own. 

And are the people any more serious than magistrates and 
ministers ? How can it be expected ? Reader, look but to thy- 
self, and resolve the question. Ask conscience, and suffer it 
to tell thee truly. Hast thou set thine eternal rest before thine 
eyes as the great business, which thou hast to do in this world ? 
Hast thou studied, and cared, and watched, and laboured with 
all thy might, lest any should take thy crown from thee? Hast 
thou made haste, lest thou shouldst come too late, and die be- 
fore the work be done ? Hath thy heart been set upon it, and 
thy desires and thoughts run out this way ? Hast thou pressed 
on through crowds of opposition 'towards the mark, for the 
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus ?' When you 
have set your hand to the work of God, have you done it with 
all your might ? Can conscience witness your secret cries, 
and groans^ and tears ? Can your families witness that you 
have taught them the fear of the Lord, and warned them all 
with earnestness and unweariedness to remember God and 
their souls ? Or that you have done but as much for them, as 
that damned glutton would have had Lazarus do for his breth- 
ren on earth, to warn them that they come not to that place of 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST, 107 

torment ! Can you» ministers witness that they have heard you 
cry out, * What shall we do to be saved ?' And that you have 
followed them with complaints against your corruptions, and 
with earnest inquiries after the Lord ? Can your neighbours 
about you witness, that you are still learning of them that are 
able to instruct you? And that you plainly and roundly re- 
prove the ungodly, and take pains for the saving of your breth- 
ren's souls ? Let all these witnesses judge this day between 
God and you, whether you are in good earnest about eternal 
rest. 

But if yet you cannot discern your neglects, look but to your- 
selves : within you, without you, to the work you have done : 
you can tell by his work whether your servant hath loitered, 
though you did not see him : so you may by yourselves. Is 
your love to Christ, your faith, your zeal, and other graces, 
strong or weak ? What are your joys ? What is your assur- 
ance ? Is all right, and strong, and in order within you ? Are 
you ready to die, if this should be the day ?^Do the souls among 
whom you have conversed, bless you ? Why, judge by this, 
and it will quickly appear whether you have been labourers or 
loiterers. 



CHAPTER VI. 

AN EXHORTATION TO SERIOUSNESS IN SEEKING REST* 

I hope, reader, by this time thou art somewhat sensible^ 
what a desperate thing it is to trifle about eternal rest ; and 
how deeply thou hast been guiliy of this thyself. And I hope 
also, that thou darest not now ouffer this conviction to die ; but 
art resolved to be another man tor the time to come: What 
sayest thou ? Is this thy resolution ? If thou wert sick of 
some desperate disease, and the physician should tell thee, if 
you will observe but one thiog, I doubt not to cure you : — 
wouldst thou not observe it ? Why, if thou wilt observe but 
this one thing for thy soul, I make no doubt of thy salvation ; if 
thou wilt now but shake off thy sloth and put to all thy strength, 
and be a downright christian, 1 know not what can hinder thy 
happiness. As far as ihou art gone from God, if thou now return 



108 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

and seek him with thy whole heart, no doubt but thou sbalt find 
him. As unkindly a? thou hast dealt with Jesus Christ, if thou 
didst but feel thyself sick and dead, aud seek bim heartily, and 
apply thyself in good earnest to the obedience of his laws, thy 
salvation were as sure as if thou hadst it already : but as full as 
the satisfaction of Christ is, as free as the promise is, as large as 
the mercy of God is ; yet if thon do but look on these, and talk 
of them, when thou shouldst greedily entertain them, thou wilt 
be never the better for them : and if thou shouldst loiter when 
thou shouldst labour, thou wilt lose the crown. O fall to work 
then speedily, and seriously, and bless God that thou hast yet 
time to do it ; and though that which is past cannot be recalled, 
yet redeem the time now by doubling thy diligence. 

And because thou shalt see 1 urge thee not without cause, 1 
will here adjoin a multitude of considerations to move thee : 
their intent and use is, to drive thee from delaying, and from 
loitering in seeking rest. Whoever thou art, therefore, I en- 
treat thee to rouse up thy spirit, and give me awhiie thy atten- 
tion, and (as Moses said to the people) ' Set tby heart to all the 
words that I testify to thee this day ; for it is not a vain thing, 
but it is for thy life.' Weigh what I here write, with the judg- 
meot of a man ; and the Lord open thy heart, and fasten his 
counsel effectually upon thee. 

1. Consider our affections and actions should be answerable 
to the greatness of the ends to which they are intended. Now 
the ends of a christian's desires and endeavours are so great, 
that no human understanding on earth can comprehend them ; 
whether y u respect their proper excellency, their exceeding 
Importance, or their absolute necessity. 

These ends are, the glorifying of God, the salvation of our own 
and other men's souls, in escaping the torments of hell, and pos- 
sessing the glory of heaven. And can a man be too much af- 
fected with things of such moment ? Can he desire them too 
earnestly, or love them too violently, or labour for them too dil- 
igently ? When we know that if our prayers prevail not, and 
our labour succeeds not, we are undone for ever, 1 think it 
concerns us to seek and labour to the purpose. When it is put 
to the question, whether we shall live for ever in heaven, or 
in hell ; and the question must be resolved upon our obeying 
the gospel, or disobeying it, upon the painfulness or the sloth- 
fulness of our present endeayours ; I think it is time for us to 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 109 

vbeatir ourselves, and to leave our trifling and complimenting 
with God. 

2. Consider, our diligence should be answerable to the 
greatness of the work which we have to do, as well as to the 
ends of it. 

Now, the works of a christian here are very many, and very 
great : the soul must be renewed ; many and great corruptions 
mortified ; custom, temptations and worldly interest must be 
conquered ; flesh must be mastered ; life, and friends, and cred- 
it, and all must be slighted ; conscience must be upon good 
grounds quieted ; assurance of pardon and salvation must be 
attained. And though it is God that must give us these, and 
that freely, without our own merits ; yet will he not give them 
without our earnest seeking and labour. 

Besides, there is a deal of knowledge to'be got, for the guid- 
ing ourselves, for defending the truth, for the direction of 
others, and a deal of skill for the right managing of our 
parts : many ordinances are to be used, and duties to be per- 
formed, ordinary and extraordinary ; every age, and year, and 
day, doth require fresh succession of duty ; every place we 
come in, every person we have to deal with, every change of 
our condition, doth still require the renewing our labour, and 
bringeth duty along with it : wives, children, servants, neigh- 
bours, friends, enemies, all of them call for duty from us : and 
all this of great importance too ; so that for the most, if we mis- 
carry in it, it would prove our undoing. 

Judge then yourselves, whether men that have so much 
business lying upon their hands should not bestir them ? And 
whether it be their wisdom either to delay or to loiter ! 

3. Consider, our diligence should be quickened, because of 
the shortness and uncertainty of the time allotted us for the 
performing of all this work, and the many and great impedi- 
ments which we meet with. Yet a few days and we shall be 
here no more. Time passeth on : many diseases are ready to 
assault us ; we that now are preaching, and hearing, and talk- 
ing, and walking, must very shortly be carried, and laid in the 
dust, and there left to the worms in darkness and corruption ; 
we are almost there already ; it is but a few days, or months, 
or years, and what is that when once they are past ? We know 
not whether we shall have another sermon, or sabbath, or hour. 
How then should those bestir them for their everlasting rest ? 



110 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

who know they have so short a space for so great a work? Be- 
sides, every step in the way hath its difficulties : 4 the gate is 
strait, aDd the way narrow : the righteous themselves are 
scarcely saved.' Scandals and discouragements will be still 
cast before us; and can all these be overcome by slothful en- 
deavours ? 

4. Moreover, our diligence should be answerable to the dili- 
gence of our enemies in seeking our destruction. For if we sit 
still while they are plotting and labouring; or if we be lazy in 
our defence, while they are diligent in assaulting us, you may 
easily conceive how we are likely to speed. How diligent is 
Satan in all kinds of temptations! Therefore, ' be sober and 
vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion 
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.' How diligent 
are all the ministers of Satan ! False teachers, scorners at god- 
liness, malicious persecutors, all unwearied; and our inward 
corruption, the most busy and diligent of all: whatever we are 
about, it is still resisting us; depraving our duties, perverting 
our thoughts, dulling our affections to good, exciting them to 
evil: and will a feeble resistance serve our turn? Should we 
Dot be more active for our own preservation, than our enemies 
for our ruin ? 

5. Our affections and endeavours should bear some propor- 
tion with the talents we have received, and means we have en- 
joyed. 

It may well be expected that a horseman should go faster 
than a footman : and he that hath a swift borse, faster than he 
that hath a slow one. More work will be expected from a 
sound man. than from the sick ; and from a man at age, than 
from a child ; and to whom men commit much, from them they 
will expect the more. 

Now the talents which we have received are many and 
great : the means which we have enjoyed are very many, and 
very precious. What people breathing on earth, have had 
plainer instructions, or more forcible persuasions, or constant 
admonitions, in season and out of season? Sermons, till we 
have been weary of them : and sabbaths, till we profaned 
them ! Excellent books in such plenty, that we knew not 
which to read ! What people have had God so near them as we 
have had ? Or have seen Christ, as it were, crucified before 
their eyes, as we have done ? What people have had heaven 



THB SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. Ill 

and hell, as it were, opened unto them as we ? Scarce a day 
wherein we have not had some spur to put us on. What speed 
then should such a people make for heaven ? How should they 
fly that are thus winged ? And how swiftly should they sail that 
have wind and tide to help them ? Believe it, brethren, God 
looks for more from England, than from most nations in the 
world ; and for more from you that enjoy these helps, than from 
the dark untaught congregations of the land. A small measure 
of grace beseems not such a people ; nor will an ordinary dili- 
gence in the work of God, excuse them! 

6. The vigour of our affections and actions should be an- 
swerable to the great cost bestowed upon us, and to the deep 
engaging mercies which we have received from God. Surely 
we owe more service to our master from whom we have our 
maintenance, than we do to a stranger, to whom we were nev- 
er beholden. 

O the cost that God hath been at for our sakes ! The riches 
of sea and land, of neaven and earth, hnth he poured out unto 
us. All our lives have been filled up with mercies : we can* 
not look back upon one hour of it, or passage in it, but we may 
behold mercy. We feed upon mercy, we wear mercy upon 
our backs, we tread upon mercy; mercy within us, mercy 
without us for this life, and for that to come. O the rare deliv- 
erances that we have partaken of, both national and personal ! 
How oft, how seasonably, how fully have our prayers been 
heard, and our fears removed ! What large catalogues of par- 
ticular mercies can ever} 7 christian rehearse ! To offer to num- 
ber them would be as endless a task, as to number the stars, or 
the sands of the sfcore. 

If there be any difference betwixt hell, (where we should 
have been) and earth, (where we now are) yea, or heaven, 
(which is offered to us) then certainly we have received mercy : 
yea, if the blood of the Son of God be mercy, then are we en- 
gaged to God by mercy ; for so much did it cost him to recover 
us to himself. And should a people of such deep engagements 
be lazy in their returns ? Shall God think nothing too much 
nor too good for us ; and shall we think all too much that we 
do for him ? Thou that art an observing sensible man, who 
knowest how much thou art beholden to God, 1 appeal to thee, 
is not a loitering performance of a few heartless duties, an un- 
worthy requital of such admirable kindness ? For my own part, 



212 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 



when I compare my slow and unprofitable life, with the fre- 
quent and wonderful mercies received, it shames me, it silen- 
ceth me, and leaves me inexcusable. 

7. Consider, all the relations which we stand in toward God, 
call upon us for our utmost diligence. Should not the pot be 
wholly at the service of the patter, and the creature at the ser- 
vice of his Creator ? Are we his children, and do we not owe 
him our most tender affections, and dutiful obedience ?— 
Are we the spouse of Christ, and do we not owe him our 
observance, and our love? 'If he be our father, where is 
bis honour? and if he be our master, where is his fear? We 
call him Lord and Master, and we do well :' but if our industry 
be not answerable to our relations, we condemn ourselves in 
saying, we are his children, or his servants. How will the 
hard labour and daily toil that servants undergo to please their 
masters, judge and condemn those men who will not labour so 
hard for their great master ? Surely there is none have a more 
Lonourable master than we, uor can expect such fruit of their 
labours. 

3. How close should they ply their work, who have such at- 
tendants as we have ! All the world are our servants, that we 
may be the servants of God. The sun, and moon, and stars, 
attend us with their light and influence : the earth, with all its 
furniture, is at our service : how many thousand plants, and 
flowers, and fruits, and birds, and beasts, do all attend us? The 
sea with its inhabitants, the air, the wind, the frost and snow, 
the heat and fire, the clouds and rain, all wait upon us while 
we do our work: yea, * the angels are ministering spirits for 
us.' And is it not an intolerable crime for us to trifle, while all 
these are employed to assist us ? Nay more ; the patience of God 
doth wait upon us : the Lord Jesus Christ waiteth in the offers 
of his blood ; the Holy Spirit waiteth, in striving with our back- 
ward hearts : besides, all his servants, the ministers of his gos- 
pel, who study and wait^ and preach and wait, and pray and 
wait upon careless sinners : and shall angels and men, yea the 
Lord himself, stand by and look on, while thou dost nothing? 

O christians, I beseech you, whenever you are on your knees 
in prayer, or reproving the transgressors, or exhorting the ob- 
stinate, or upon any duty, do but remember what attendants 
you have for this work : and then judge how it behoves you to 
perform it. 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTIN-G REST. 113 

9. How forward and painful should we be in that work, 
where we are sure we can never do enough ? If there were 
any danger in over-doing, then it might well cause men to 
moderate their endeavours : but we know c that if we could do 
all, we were but unprofitable servants :' much more when we 
fail in all. 

It is true, a man may possibly preach too much, or hear too 
much, (though 1 have known few that did so) but yet no man 
can obey or serve God too much : one duty may be said to be 
too long, when it shuts out another ; and then it ceaseth indeed 
to be a duty. And all superstition, or worship of our own de- 
vising, may be called a righteousness over muGh ; yet as long 
as you keep your service to the rule of the word, you never 
need to fear ' being righteous over much:' for else we should 
reproach the Lord and Lawgiver of the church, as if he com- 
manded us to do too much. 

If the world were not mad with malice, they could never be 
so blind in this point as they are : to think that diligence for 
Christ, is folly and singularity : and that they who set them- 
selves wholly to seek eternal life, are but precise Puritans I 
The time is near, when they will easily confess, that God could 
not be loved or served too much, and that no man can be too 
busy to save his soul : for the world you may easily do too 
much, but herein (in God's way) you cannot. 

10. Consider, they that trifle in the way to heaven, lose all 
their labour. If two be running in a race, he that runs slowest, 
had as good never run at all: for he loseth the prize and his 
labour both. Many, who like Agrippa, are but ' almost chris- 
tians,' will find in the end they shall be but almost saved. God 
hath set the rate at which the pearl must be bought : if you bid 
a penny less, you had as good bid nothing. As a man that is 
lifting up some weighty thing, if he put to almost strength 
enough, it is as good he put to none at all, for he doth but lose 
all his labour. 

O how many professors of Christianity will find this true to 
their sorrow, who have had a mind to the ways of God, and 
have kept up a dull task of duty, but never came to serious 
Christianity ! How many a duty have they lost, for want of do- 
ing them thoroughly ! ' Many shall seek to enter in and not be 
able :' who, if they had striven, might have been able. O there* 
e2 



114 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST, 

fore put to a little more diligence and strength, tbat all be not 
in vain that you have done already I 

11. Furthermore, we have lost a great deal of time already, 
and therefore it is reason that we labour so much the harder. 
If a traveller sleep, or trifle out most of the day, he must travel 
so much the faster in the evening, or fall short of his journey's 
end. With some of us, our childhood and youth are gone ; with 
some also their middle age, and the time before us is very un- 
certain. What a deal of time have we slept away, and talked 
away, and played away ? What a deal have we spent in worldly 
thoughts and labours, or in mere idleness ? Though in likeli- 
hood the most of our time is spent, yet how little of our work 
is done ? And is it not time to bestir ourselves in the evening 
of our days ? The time which we have lost can never be recall- 
ed ; should we not then redeem it by improving the little which 
remaineth ? You may receive indeed an ' equal recompense 
with those that have borne the burden and heat of the day, 
though you came not till the last hour ;' but then you must be 
sure to labour diligently that hour, it is enough sure that we 
have lost so much of our lives. Let us not now be so foolish as 
to lose the rest. 

12. Consider, the greater are your layings- out, the greater 
will be your comings in. Though you may seem to lose your 
labour at the present, yet the hour cometh when you shall find 
it with advantage. The seed which is buried and dead, will 
bring forth a plentiful increase at the harvest. Whatever you 
do, and whatever you suffer, everlasting rest will pay for all, 
There is no repenting of labours and sufferings in heaven ; 
none says, " would I had spared, my pains and prayed Jess, or 
been less strict, and did as the rest of my neighbours did :'* 
there is never such a thought in heaven as these. But on the 
contrary, it will be their joy to look back upon their labours, 
and consider how the mighty power of God did bring them 
through all. Whoever complained that he came to hearen at 
too dear a rate ; or that his salvation cost him more labour than 
it was worth ? We may say of all our labours, as Paul of his 
sufferings, ' I reckon that the sufferings' (and labours) ' of this 
present time, are not worthy to be compared with the glory 
that shall be revealed.' We labour but for a moment, but we 
shall rest for ever. Who would not put forth all his strength 
for one hour when he may be a prince while he lives ? 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 113 

Oh, what is the duty and sufferings for a short life, in respect 
of endless joys with God ? Will not ' all our tears then be wiped 
away ?' and all the sorrows of our duties forgotten ? But yet 
the Lord will not forget them : ' for he is not unjust, to forget 
our work and labour of love.' 

13. Consider, violence and laborious striving for salvation, 
is the way that the wisdom of God hath directed us to, as best, 
and his sovereign authority appointed us as necessary. Who 
knows the way to heaven better than the God of heaven ? 
When men tell us that we are too strict, whom do they accuse, 
God or us ? If we do no more than what we are commanded, 
nor so much neither ; they may as well say, God hath made 
laws which are too strict. Sure if it were a fault, it would lie 
in him that commands, and not in us who obey. And dare 
these men think that they are wiser than God ? Do they know 
better than he, what men must do to be saved ? These are the 
men that ask us, whether we are wiser than all the world be- 
sides ? and yet they will pretend to be wiser than God. W^hat 
do they less, when God bids us take the most diligent course, 
and they tell us, it is more ado than needs ? Mark well the 
language of God, and see how you can reconcile it with the 
language of the world ; ' The kingdom of heaven suffereth vio- 
lence, and the violent take it by force. Strive to enter in at 
the straight gate ; for many shall seek to enter in, and not be 
able. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy 
might ; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, or 
wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest. Work out your sal- 
vation with fear and trembling. Give diligence to make your 
calling and election sure. If the righteous scarcely be saved 3 
where shall the ungodly and sinner appear ?' 

This is the constant language of Christ : and which shall 1 
follow, God or men ; yea, and that the worst and most wicked 
men ? Shall 1 think that every ignorant worldly sot, that can 
only call a man a Puritan, knows more than Christ, or can tell 
God how to mend the scriptures ? Let them bring all the seem- 
ing reason they can against the holy, violent striving of the 
saints ; and this sufficeth me to confute them all, that God is of 
another mind, and he hath commanded me to do much more 
than I do : and though I could see no reason for it, yet his will 
i3 reason enough to me : I am sure God is worthy to govern us, 
if we were better than we are. Who should make laws for 



116 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

us, but he that made us ? And who should mark out the way 
to heaven, but he that must bring us thither? And who should 
determine on what conditions we shall be saved, but he that be- 
stows the gift of salvation ? So that let the world, or the flesh, or 
the devil, speak against a holy laborious course, this is my 
answer, God hath commanded it. 

14. Moreover, it is a course that all men in the world either 
do, or will approve of. There is not a man that ever was, or is, 
or shall be, but shall one day justify the diligence of the saints. 
And who would not go that way, which every man shall ap- 
plaud ? 

It is true, it is now a way every where spoken against, and 
hated; but let me tell you, 1. Most that speak againstit, in 
their judgments approve of it; only because the practice of 
godliness is against the pleasures of the flesh, therefore do they, 
against their own judgments, resist it. They have not one 
word of reason against it, but reproaches and railing are their 
best arguments. c 2. Those that are now against it, whether in 
judgment or passion, will shortly be of another mind. If they 
come to heaven, their mind must be changed before they come 
there. If they go to hell, their judgment will then be altered, 
whether they will or no. 

If you could speak with every soul that suffereth those tor- 
ments, and ask, whether it be possible to be too diligent and se- 
rious in seeking salvation, you may easily conjecture what an- 
swer they would return. Take the most bitter derider or per- 
secutor of Godliness, even those that will venture their lives to 
overthrow it, if those men do not shortly wish a thousand 
times that they had been the most holy, diligent christians on 
earth, then let me bear the shame of a false prophet for ever. 

Remember this, you that will be of the opinion and way that 
most are of: why will you not be of the opinion then that all 
will be shortly of? Why will you be of a judgment which you 
are sure you shall all shortly change ? O that you were but 
as wise in this, as those in hell. 

15. Consider, They that have been the most serious, painful 
christians, when they come to die, exceedingly lament their 
negligence. Those that have wholly addicted themselves to the 
work of God, and have made it the business of their lives, and 
have slighted the world, and mortified the flesh, and have been 
the wonders of the world for their heavenly conversations ; yet 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST* 117 

when conscience is deeply awakened, how do their failings 
wound them ? Even those that are hated and derided by the 
world for being so strict, and are thought to be almost beside 
themselves for their extraordinary diligence ; yet commonly 
when they lie a dying, wish, O that they had been a thousand 
times more holy, more heavenly, more laborious for their souls ! 
What a case then will the negligent world be in, when their 
consciences are awakened, when they lie dying, and look be- 
hind them upon a lazy, negligent life ; and look before them 
upon a severe and terrible judgment? What an esteem will 
they have of a holy life ? For my own part, I may say as Eras- 
mus, " They accuse me for doing too much, but my own con- 
science accuseth me for doing too little, and being too slow : 
and it is far easier bearing the scorns of the world, than the 
scourges of conscience." The world speaks at a distance with- 
out me, so that though I hear their words, I can choose wheth- 
er 1 will feel them ; but my conscience speaks within, at the 
very heart, so that every check doth pierce me to the quick. 
Conscience, when it reprehends justly, is the messenger of 
God : ungodly revilers, are the voice of the devil. 1 had rather 
be reproached by the devil for seeking salvation, than reproved 
of God for neglecting it : 1 had rather the world should call 
me Puritan in the devil's name, than conscience should call 
me a loiterer in God's name. As God and conscience are 
more useful friends than Satan and the world ; so are they 
more dreadful, irresistible enemies. 

And thus, reader, I have shewed thee sufficient reason 
against thy slothfulness and negligence, if thou be not a man 
resolved to shut thine eyes, and to destroy thyself. Yet, lest 
all this should not prevail, I will add somewhat more, to per- 
suade thee to be serious in thy endeavours for heaven. 

1. Consider, God is in good earnest with you ; and why then 
should you not be so with him ? In his commands, he means 
as he speaks, and will verily require your real obedience. In 
his threatnings he is serious, and will make them all good 
against the rebellious. In his promises he is serious, and will 
fulfil them to the obedient, even to the least tittle. In his judg- 
ments he is serious, as he will make bis enemies know to their 
terror. Was not God in good earnest when he drowned the 
world, when he consumed Sodom and Gomorrah, when he 
scattered the Jews ? And yery shortly will lay hold on his ea- 



118 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

emies, particularly man by man, and make them know that he 
is in good earnest : especially when it comes to the great reck- 
oning' day. And is it time then for us to dally with God ? 

*. Jesus Christ was serious in purchasing our redemption. 
He was serious in teaching 1 , ' when he neglected his meat and 
drink,' John iv. 32. He was serious in praying, * when he con- 
tinued all night at it.' He was serious in doing good, ' when 
his kindred came and laid hands on him, thinking he had been 
beside himself.' He was serious in suffering, c when he fasted 
forty days, was tempted, betrayed, spit on, buffeted, crown- 
ed with thorns, sweat blood, was crucified, pierced, died.' — 
There was no jesting in all this : and should we not be serious 
in seeking our own salvation ? 

3. The Holy Ghost is serious in soliciting us for our happi- 
ness : his motions are frequent and pressing, and importunate : 
he striveth with our. hearts. He is grieved when we resist 
him ; and should not we then be serious in obeying his motions, 
and yielding to his suit ? 

4. How serious and diligent are all the creatures in their 
service to thee ? What haste makes the sun to compass the 
world ? And how truly doth it return at its appointed hour ! — 
So do the moon and other planets. The springs are always 
flowing for thy use ; the rivers still running ; the spring and 
harvest keep their times. How hard doth thy ox labour for 
thee from day to day ? How painfully and speedily doth thy 
horse bear thee in travel ? And shall all these be laborious, 
and thou only negligent? Shall they all be so serious in serv- 
ing thee, and yet thou be so slight in thy service to God ? 

5. Consider, the servants of the world and the devil are se- 
rious and diligent ; they ply their work continually, as if they 
could never do enough : they make haste, and march furiously, 
as if they were afraid of coming to hell too late ; they bear down 
ministers, and sermons, and counsel, and all before them. And 
shall they do more for the devil, than thou wilt do for God ? — 
Or be more diligent for damnation, than thou wilt be for salva- 
tion ? Hast not thou a better master ? and sweeter employ- 
ment ? and sweeter encouragement, and a better reward ? 

6. There is no jesting in heaven, nor in hell. The saints 
have a real happiness, and the damned a real misery ; the 
saints are serious and high in their joy and praise ; and the 
damned are serious and deep in their sorrow and complaints. 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. UD 

There are no remiss or sleepy praises in heaven ; nor any re- 
miss or sleepy lamentations in hell : all men there are in good 
earnest. And should we not then be serious now? 1 dare 
promise thee, the thoughts of these things will shortly be seri- 
ous thoughts with thyself. When thou comest to death or judg- 
ment, O what deep heart-piercing thoughts wilt thou have of 
eternity ! Methinksl foresee thee already astonished, to think 
how thou couldst possibly make so light of these things ! Me- 
thinksl even hear thee crying out of thy stupidity and mad- 
ness ! 

And now having laid thee down these undeniable arguments, 
1 do in the name of God demand thy resolution : What sayest 
thou ? Wilt thou yield obedience or not ? I am confident thy 
conscience is convinced of thy duty. Darest thou now go on 
in thy common careless course, against the plain evidence of 
reason and commands of God, and against the light of thy own 
conscience? Darest thou live as loosely, and sin as boldly, and 
pray as seldom, and as coldly as before? Darest thou now as 
carnally spend the sabbath, and slumber over the service of 
God as slightly, and think of thine everlasting state as careless- 
ly as before ? Or dost thou not rather resolve to gird up the 
loins of thy mind, and to set thyself wholly about the work of 
thy salvation ; and to do it with all thy might ; and to break 
overall the oppositions of the world, and to slight all their 
scorns and persecutions : c to cast off" the weight that hangeth 
on thee ; and the sin that doth so easily beset thee , and to ruQ 
with patience and speed the race that is set before thee ?' I 
hope these are thy full resolutions : if thou art well in thy wits, 
1 am sure they are. 

Yet because 1 know the strange obstinacy of the heart of 
man, and because I would fain leave these persuasions fastened 
in thy heart, that so. if it be possible, thou mightest be awak- 
ened to thy duty, and thy soul might live : 1 shall proceed with 
thee yet a little further : and I once more entreat thee to stir 
up thy attention, and go along with me in the free and sober 
use of thy reason, while I propound these following questions : 
and I command thee from God, that thou resist not conviction, 
but answer them faithfully, and obey accordingly. 

1. Quest. If you could grow rich bj religion, or get lands and 
lordships thereby ; or if you could get honour or preferment by 
it in the world ; or could be recovered from sickness by it, or 



129 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

oould live for ever in prosperity on earth ; what kind of lires 
would you then lead, aod what pains would you take in the 
service of God ? And is not the Rest of the saints a more ex* 
cellent happiness than all this ? 

2. Quest. If the law of the land did punish every breach of 
the sabbath, or every omission of family duties, or secret du- 
ties, or every cold and heartless prayer, with death : if it were 
felony or treason to be negligent in worship, and loose in your 
lives ; what manner of persons would you then be ? and what 
lives would you lead ? And is not eternal death more terrible 
than temporal? 

3. Quest If it were God's ordinary course to punish every 
sin with some present judgment, so that every time a man 
swears, or is drunk, or speaks a lie, or backbiteth his neigh- 
bour, he should be struck dead, or blind, or lame, in the place : 
if God did punish every cold prayer, or neglect of duty with 
some remarkable plague; what manner of persons would you 
be ? If you should suddenly fall down dead like Ananias and 
Sapphira with the sin in your hands ; or the plague of God 
shouid seize upon you as upon the Israelites, while their sweet 
morsels were yet in their mouths : If but a mark should be set 
in the forehead of every one that neglected a duty, or commit- 
ted a sin ; what kind of lives would you then lead ? And is not 
eternal wrath more terrible than all this ? 

4. Quest. If you had seen the general dissolution of the 
world, and all the pomp and glory of it consumed to ashes; if 
you saw all on fire about you, sumptuous buildings, cities, king- 
doms, land, water, earth, heaven, all flaming about your ears : 
if you had seen all that men laboured for, and sold their souls 
for, gone ; friends gone ; the place of your former abode gone ; 
the history ended, and all come down ; what would such a sight 
as this persuade you to do ? Why, such a sight thou shalt cer- 
tainly see. 1 put my question to thee in the words of the apos- 
tle, 2 Pet. iii. * Seeing all these things shall be dissolved, .what 
manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and 
godliness, looking for, and hasting unto the coming of the day 
of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, 
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat ?' As if he should 
say, we cannot possibly conceive or express what manner of 
persons we should be in all holiness and godliness, when we do 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 121 

but think of the sudden, and certain, and terrible dissolution of 
all things below. 

5. Quest. What if you had seen the process of the judgment 
of the great day ? If you had seen the judgment set, and the 
books opened, and the most stand trembling on the left hand of 
the judge, and Christ himself accusing them of their rebellions 
and neglects, and remembering them of all their former slight- 
ings of his grace, and at last condemning them to perpetual 
perdition ? If you had seen the godly standing on the right 
hand, and Jesus Christ acknowledging their faithful obedience, 
and adjudging them to the possession of the joy of their Lord? 
What manner of persons would you have been after such a 
sight as this ? Why, this sight thou sbalt one day see, as sure as 
thou livest. And why then should not the foreknowledge of 
such a day awake thee to thy duty ? 

6. Quest, What if you had once seen hell open, and all the 
damned there in their ceaseless torments, and had heard them 
crying out of th» j ir slothfulness in the day of their visitation, 
and wishing that they had but another iife to live, and tnat God 
would but try them once again? one crying- put of his neglect 
of dutv, and another of his loitering and trifling, when he 
should have been labouring for his life ? What manner of per- 
sons would you have been after such a sight as this ? What if 
you had seen heaven opened, as Stephen did, ana" all the saints 
there triumphing in glory, and enjoying the end of their la- 
bours and sufferings? What a life would you lead after such a 
sight as this? Why, you will see this with your eyes, before it 
be long. 

7. Quest. What if you had lain in hell but one year, or one 
day, or hour, and there felt those torments that now you do but 
hear of? and God should turn you into the world again, and try 
you with another life-time, and say, I will see whether thou 
wilt be yet any better ; what manner of persons would you be ? 
If you were to live a thousand years, would you not gladly live 
as strictly as the precjsest saints, and spend all those years in 
prayer and duty, so you might but escape the torment which 
you suffered? how seriously then would you speak of hell ! and 

pray against it ! And hear, and read, and watch, and obey ! 

How earnestly would you admonish the careless to take heed, 
and look about them to prevent their ruin ! And will not you 
take God's word for the truth of this, except you feel it? Is it 

L 



122 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

cot your wisdom to do as much now to prevent it, as you would 
do to remove it when it is too late? Is it not more wisdom to 
spend this life in labouring 1 for heaven, while ye have it, than 
to lie in torment, wishing for more time in vain ? 

And thus I have said enough, if not to stir up the lazy sinner 
to a seriou? working- out his salvation, yet at least to silence 
him, and leave him inexcusable at the judgment of God. If 
Ihou canst, after reading 1 all this, go on in the same neglect of 
God, and thy soul, and draw out the rest of thy life in the same 
dull and careless course, as thou hast hitherto done ; and if 
thcu hast so far stupified thy conscience, that it will quietly suf- 
fer thee to forget all this, and to trifle out the rest of thy time in 
the business of the world, when in the mean while thy salva- 
tion is in danger, and the judge is at the door; 1 have then no 
more to say to thee : it is as good to speak to a rock. Only as 
we do by our friends, when they are dead ; and our words and 
actions can do them no good, yet to testify our affections, we 
weep and mourn for them ; so will I also do for these souls. It 
makes my heart even tremble to think, how they will stand 
trembling before the Lord ! And how confounded and speech- 
less they will be, when Christ shall reason with them concern- 
ing' their negligence and sloth ! When be shall say, as the Lord 
doth in Jer. ii. 5. 9. 11. 15. 4 What iniquity have your fathers 
(or you) found in me, that ye are gone far from me, and have 
walked after vanity ? Did I ever wrong you or do yon any 
harm, or ever discourage you from following my service ? Was 
my way so bad that you could not endure it ? or my service so 
base that you could not stoop to it ? Did I stoop to the fulfilling 
of the law for you, and could not you stoop to fulfil the easy 
conditions of my gospel? Was the world or Satan a better 
friend to you than I ? Or had they done for you more than I 
had done ? Try now whether they will save you, or whether 
they will recompense you for the loss of heaven; or whether 
they will be as good to you as I would have been. O ! what 
will the wretched sinner answer to any of tins! But though 
man will not hear, yet we may have hope in speaking to God — 
Lord, smite these rocks till they gush forth waters : though 
these ears are deaf, say to them, Ephphatha, be opened: 
though these sinners be deaci, let that power speak, which 
sometime said c Lazarus arise !' W r eknow they will be awak- 
eret at the last resurrection ; O, but then it will be only to 
their sorrow ! O, thou that didst weep and groan over dead 



tfHE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 123 

Lazarus, pity these sad and senseless souls, till they are able to 
weep and groan for, and pity themselves- As thou hast bid 
thy servants speak, so speak now thyself ; they will hear thy 
voice speaking* to their hearts, that will not hear mine speaking 
to their ears. Long hast thou knocked at these hearts in vain, 
now break the doors, and enter in. 

Yet I will add a few more words to good men in particular, 
to shew them why they above all men should be laborious for 
heaven; and that there is a great deal of reason, that, though 
all the world sit still, yet they should abhor that laziness and 
negligence, and lay out all their strength on the work of God. 
To this end, 1 desire them also to answer soberly to these few 
questions. 

1. Qmst. What manner of persons should those be, who have 
felt the smart of their negligence in the new birth, in their 
several wounds and trouble of conscience, in their doubts and 
fears, in their various afflictions ; they that have groaned and 
cried out so oft, under the sense and effects of their negligence, 
and are like enough to feel it again, if they do not reform it ? 
Sure one would think they should be slothful no more. 

2. Quest. What manner of persons should those be who have 
bound themselves to God by so many covenants as we have 
done, and in special have covenanted so oft to be more painful 
and faithful in his service ? At every sacrament : on many days 
of humiliation and thanksgiving ; in most of our deep distresses 
and dangerous sicknesses : we are still readv to bewail our ne- 
glects, and to engage ourselves, if God will but try us and trust 
us once again, how diligent and laborious we will be, and how 
we will improve our time, and reprove offenders, and watch 
over ourselves, and ply our work ; and do him more service iti 
a day than we did in a month ? The Lord pardon our perfidious 
covenant-breaking; and grant that our engagements may not 
condemn us. 

3. Quest. What manner of men should they be in duty, who 
have received so much encouragement, as we have done ? — 
Who have tasted such sweetness in diligent obedience, as 
doth much more than countervail all the pains : who have so 
oft had experience of the wide difference between lazy and la- 
borious duty, by their different issues ; who have found all our 
lazy duties unfruitful ; and ail our strivings and wrestlings with 
God successful, so that we were never importunate with God 



124 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

in vain ? We who have had so many deliverances upon urgent 
seeking ; and have received almost all our solid comforts in a 
way of close and constant duty : how should we above all mea 
ply our work ? 

4. Quest, What manner of persons should they be in holi- 
ness who have so much of the great work yet undone ? So ma- 
ny sins in so great strength ; graces weak, sanctification im- 
perfect, corruptions still workiog and taking advantage of all 
our omission ? When we are as a boat-man on the water ; let 
him row never so hard, a month together, yet if he do but slack 
his hand, and think to ease himself, bis boat gees faster down 
the stream than before it went up : so do our souls, when we 
think to ease ourselves by abating our pains in duty. Our time 
is short : our enemies mighty : our hinderances many : God 
seems yet at a distance from many of us : our thoughts of him 
are dull and unbelieving : our acquaintance and communion 
with Christ, is small, and our desires to be with him are as 
small, and should men in our case stand still? 

5. Quest. Lastly, what manner of persons should they be, on 
whom the glory of the great God doth so much depend? Men 
will judge of the father by the children, and of the master by 
the servants. We bear his image, and therefore men will 
measure him by his representation. He is no where in the 
world so lively represented, as in his saints : and shall they set 
him forth as a pattern of idleness ? All the world is not capable 
of honouring or dishonouring God so much as we : and the 
least of the honour is of more worth than all our lives. Seeing 
then that all these things are so, I charge thee that art a chris- 
tian, in my masters name, to consider and resolve the ques- 
tion, ' What manner of persons ought we to be in all holy con- 
versation and godliness ?' And let thy life answer the question 
as well as thy tongue. 

1 have been larger upon this use, partly because of the gen- 
eral neglect of heaven, that all sorts are guilty of; partly be- 
cause men's salvation depends upon their present striving and 
seeking; partly because the doctrine of free grace misunder- 
stood, is lately so abused, to the cherishing of sloth and securi- 
ty ; partly because many eminent men of late do judge, that to 
work or labour for life and salvation is mercenary, legal and 
dangerous ; which doctrine (as 1 have said before) were it by 
the owners reduced into practice, would undoubtedly damn 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 125 

them ; because they that seek not, shall not nod ; and they that 
strive not to enter, shall be shut out ; and they that labour not, 
shall not be crowned : and partly because it is grown the cus- 
tom, instead of striving for the kingdom, and contending for 
the faith, to strive with each other about uncertain controver- 
sies, and to contend about the circumstantials of faith; where- 
in the kingdom of God doth no more consist than in meats, or 
drinks, or genealogies. Sirs, shall we who are brethren fall 
out by the way home, and spend so much of our time about the 
smaller matters which thousands have been saved without, but 
never any one saved by them, while Christ and our eternal 
rest are almost forgotten ? The Lord pardon and heal the folly 
of his people! 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE THIRD USE. PERSUADING ALL MEN TO TRY THEIR TITLE 
TO THIS REST; AND DIRECTING THEM HOW TO TRY, THAT 
THEY MAY KNOW. 

I now proceed to the third use ; and because it is of very 
great importance, I entreat thee to weigh it the more seriously. 

Is there such a glorious rest so near at hand ? And shall none 
enjoy it but the people of God ? What mean the most of the 
world then, to live so contentedly, without the assurance of 
their interest in this rest ? And to neglect the trying of their 
title to it, when the Lord hath so fully opened the blessedness 
of that kingdom, which none but obedient believers shall pos- 
sess, and so fully express those torments which all the rest of 
the world must eternally suffer ? A man would think now, that 
they who believe this should never be at any quiet till they 
were heirs of the kingdom. Most men say they believe this 
word of God to be true : how then can they sit still in such an 
utter uncertainty, whether ever they shall live in rest or not ? 
Lord, what a wonderful madness is this, that men who know 
they must presently enter upon unchangeable joy or pain, 
should yet live as uncertain what shall be their doom, as if they 
had never heard of any such state : yea, and live as quietly, 
and as merrily in this uncertainty, as if nothing ailed them, and 
there were no danger ! 



126 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

Are these men alive or dead ? Are they waking or asleep f 
What do they think on ? Where are their hearts ? If they have 
but a weighty suit at law, how careful are they to know 
whether it will go for them, or against them ? H they were to 
be tried for their lives, how careful would they be to know 
whether they should be saved or condemned, especially if their 
care might surely save them ? H they be dangerously sick ; 
they will inquire of the physician ; what think you, sir, shall I 
escape or no? But for the business of their salvation, they are 
content to be uncertain. If you ask most men a reason of their 
hopes to be saved, they will say it is because God is merciful, 
and Christ died for sinners, and the like general reasons, which 
any man in the world may give as well as they ; but put them 
to prove their interest in Christ, and the saving mercy of God, 
and they can say nothing at all; at least nothing out of their 
hearts and experience. 

If God should ask them for their souls, as he did Cain for his 
brother Abel, they could return but such an answer as he did. 
If God or man should say to them, what case is thy soul in, 
man ? Is it regenerated and pardoned, or no ? Is it in a state of 
life, or a state of death? He would be ready to say, I know not, 
am I my soul's keeper. I hope well, 1 trust God with my soul, 
1 shall speed as well as other men do, 1 thank God I never made 
any doubt of my salvation. Thou hast the more cause to doubt 
a great deal, because thou never didst doubt ; and yet more be- 
cause thou hast been so careless in thy confidence. What do 
these expressions discover, but a wilful neglect of thy own sal- 
vation ? As a ship- master that should let his vessel alone, and 
say, I will venture it among the rocks, and the waves, and 
winds : I will trust God with it; it will speed as well as other 
vessels do. Indeed as well as other men's that are as careless 
and idle, but not so well as other men's that are diligent and 
watchful. What horrible abuse of God is this, for men to pre- 
tend they trust God, to cloak their own wilful negligence ! If 
thou didst truly trust God, thou wouldst also be ruled by him, 
and trust him in that way which he hath appointed thee. He 
requires thee to 'give all diligence to make thy calling and 
election sure,' and so to trust him, 2 Peter i. 10. He hath 
marked thee out a way by which thou mayest come to be sure ; 
and charged thee to search and try thyself, till thou certainly 
know. Were he not a foolish trayeller, that would go on when 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING RES1*. 127 

he doth not know whether it be right or wrong ; and say, I hope 
I am right ; I will go on and trust God ? Art not thou guilty of 
this folly in thy travels to eternity ? Not considering that a little 
serious inquiry whether the way be right, might save thee a 
great deal of labour which thou bestowest in vain, and must 
undo again or else thou wilt miss of salvation, and undo thyself. 
Did 1 not know what a desperate, blind, carnal heart is, I should 
wonder how thou dost to keep off continual terrors from tby 
heart ; and especially in these cases following : 

1. 1 wonder how thou canst either think or speak of the 
dreadful God without exceeding terror and astonishment, as 
long as thou art uncertain whether he be thy father or thy en- 
emy, and knowest not but all his attributes may be employed 
against thee. If his c saints must rejoice before him with trem- 
bling, and serve him with fear:' If they that are sure to re- 
ceive the immovable kingdom, must yet serve God c with rev- 
erence and godly fear,' because ' he is a consuming fire :' how 
terrible should the remembrance of him be to them that know 
not but this fire may for ever consume them. 

2. How dost thou think without trembling, upon Jesus Christ, 
when thou knowest not whether his blood hath purged thy soul, 
or not ? And whether he will condemn thee, or acquit thee in 
judgment : nor whether he be the corner-stone and foundation 
of thy happiness, or a stone of stumbling to break thee, and 
grind thee to powder ? 

3. How canst thou open the bible and read a chapter, or hear 
a chapter read, but it should terrify thee? Methinks every 
leaf should be to thee as Belshazzar's writing on the wall, except 
only that which draws thee to try and reform : if thou read the 
promises, thou knowest not whether ever they shall be fulfilled 
to thee, because thou art uncertain of thy performance of the 
condition. If thou read the threatoings, for any thing thou 
knowest, thou dost read thy own sentence. I do not wonder if 
thou art an enemy to plain preaching, and if thou say of it, and 
of the minister and scripture itself, as Ahab of the prophet, ' 1 
hate him, for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but 
evil.' 

4. What comfort canst thou find in any thing which thou pos- 
sesses! ? Methinks, friends, and honours, and houses, and lands, 
should do thee little good, till thou know thou hast the love of 
God withal, and shalt have rest with him when thou leavest 



128 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

these. Offer to a prisoner, before he know his sentence, either 
music, or clothes, or lands, or preferment, and what cares he 
for any of these, till he know how he shall escape for his life? 
Then he will look after these comforts of life, and not before ; 
for he knows if he must die the next day, it will be small com- 
fort to die rich or honourable. Even when thou liest down to 
take thy rest, methinks the uncertainty of thy salvation should 
keep thee waking", or amaze thee in thy dreams, and trouble thy 
sleep ; and thou shouldst say, as Job in a smaller distress than, 
thine, Job vii. J 3, 14. 'When I say, my bed shall comfort me, 
my couch shall ease my complaint, then thou scarest me through 
dreams, and terrifiest me through visions.' 

5. What shift dost thou make to think of thy dying hour? — 
Thou knowest it is hard by, and there is no avoiding it, nor 
any medicine found out that can prevent it; thou knowest it is 
the king of terror, and the inlet to thine unchangeable state. 
If thou shouldst die this day (and ' who knows what a day may 
bring forth?') thou dost not know whether thou shalt go strait 
to heaven or hell : And canst thou be merry till thou art got out 
of this dangerous state ? 

6. What shift dost thou make to preserve thy heart from 
herror, when thou rememberest the great judgment day, and 
the everlasting flames? dost thou not tremble as Felix when 
thou hearest of it? and as the elders of the town trembled 
when Samuel came to it, saying, comest thou peaceably ? So 
methinks thou shouldst do when the minister comes into the 
pulpit : and thy heart, whenever thou meditatest of that day, 
should meditate terror, and thou shouldst even be a terror to 
thyself and all thy friends. If the keepers trembled, and be- 
came as dead men, when they did but see the angels, Matt, 
xxviii. 3, 4. how canst thou think of living in hell with devils, 
till thou hast got some sound assurance that thou shalt escape 
it? Or if thou seldom think of these things, the wonder is as 
great, what shift thou makest to keep these thoughts from thy 
heart ? Thy bed is very soft, or thy heart is very hard, if thou 
canst sleep soundly in this uncertain case. 

I have shewed thee the danger ; let me next proceed to shew 
thee the remedy. 

If this general uncertainty of the world about their salvation 
were remediless, then must it be borne as other unavoidable 
miseries : but alas, the common cause is wilfulness and negli- 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 129 

g*ence : men will not be persuaded to use the remedy, though 
it be at hand, prescribed to them by God himself, and all neces- 
sary helps thereunto provided for them. The great means to 
conquer this uncertainty, is self examination, or the serious 
and diiigent trying of a man's heart and state by the rule of 
scripture. But, alas, either men understand not the nature 
and use of this duty, or else they will not be at the pains to try. 
Go through a congregation of a thousand men, and how few of 
them will you will meet with, that ever bestowed one hour in all 
their lives in a close examination of their title to heaven? Ask 
thy own conscience, reader, when was the time, and where was 
the place, that ever thou solemnly tookedst thy heart to task, 
as in the sight of God, and examinedst it by scripture, whether 
it be born again or not ? Whether it be holy or not ? W hether 
it be set most on God or on creatures, on heaven or earth? 
and didst follow on this examination till thou hadst discovered 
thy condition, and so passed sentence on thyself accordingly ? 
But because this is a work of so high concernment, and so 
commonly neglected, 1 will therefore, 

1. Shew you, that it is possible by trying, to come to a cer- 
tainty. 

2. Shew you the hinderances that keep men from trying, and 
from assurance. 

3. I will lay down some motives to persuade you to it. 

4. I will give you some directions how to perform it, 

5. And lastly, I will lay you down some marks out of scrip- 
ture, by which you may try, and come to an infallible certainty, 
whether you are the people of God, or no. 

And 1, 1 shall shew you that a certainty of salvation may be 
attained, and ought to be laboured for. Which I maintain by 
these arguments : 

1. Scripture tells us we may know, and that the saints be- 
fore us have known their justification, and salvation, 2 Cor. v, 
1. Rom. viii. 36. John xxi. 15. 1 John v. 19. and iv. 13. and iii. 
14, 24. andii. 3, 5. Rom. viii. 14. 19. Eph. iii 12. I refer you 
to the places for brevity. 

2. If we may be certain of the premises, then may we also 
be certain of the conclusion. But here we may be certain of 
both the premises. For, 1. 'That whosoever believeth in 
Christ shall not perish, but have everlasting life,' is the voice 
of the gospel ; and therefore that we may be sure of: that we 



130 TH*E SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

are such believers, may be known by conscience and internal 
sense 

3. The scripture would never make such a wide difference 
between the children of God, and th:- children of the devil, and 
set forth the happiness of ti:e one, and the misery of the other, 
and make this difference to run through all the veins of its doc- 
trine, if a man cannot know which of these two states he is in. 

4. Much less would the Holy Ghost bid us * give all diligence 
to make our calling and election sure, 5 if it could not be done, 
2 Pet. i. Id, 

5. And to what purpose should we be so earnestly urged to 
examine, and prove, and try ourselves, whether we be in the 
faith, and whether Cfarfst be in us, or w _■ be reprobates ? 1 Cor. 
xi. 28. and 1 Cor. xiii. 5. Why should we search for that 
which cannot be found ? 

6 How can we ob y those precepts which require us to re- 
joice always ? I Thess. v. 16. to call God our father, Luke 
xi. 13. to live in his praises PsrJ. xhx I, 2, 3, 4, 5. and to long 
for Christ's coming, Bcv. xxii. 17, 20. 2 Thess. i. 10. and to 
comfort ourselves with the mention of it. 1 Thess. iv. 18. which 
are al! the consequents of assurance ? Who can do any of these 
heartily, that is not in some measure sure that he is a child of 
God? 

The 2nd thing f promised, is, to shew you what are the bin- 
derances which keep men from examination and assurance. 
1 shall, 1 . Shew what hinders them from trying ; and 2. What 
hindereth them from knowing, when they do try, that so when 
you see the impediments, you may avoid them. 

And, 1. We cannot doubt but Satan will do his part to hin- 
der us from such a necessary duty as this : if all the power he 
hath can do it, or all the means and instruments which he can 
raise up. He is loth the godly should have that assurance, 
and advantage against corruption, which faithful self exam- 
ination would procure them ; and for the ungodly he knows, 
if they should once fail close to this, they would find out his de- 
ceits, and their own danger. If they did but faithfully perform 
this duty, he were likely to lose most of his subjects. If the 
snare be not hid, the bird will escape it : Satan knows how to 
angle for souls, better than to shew them the hook or line, 
and to fright them away with a noise, or with his own ap- 
pearance. 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 131 

Therefore he labours to keep them from a searching minis- 
try : or to keep the minister from helping them to search : or 
to take off the edge of the word, that it may not pierce, or to turn 
away their thoughts, or possess them with prejudice : Satin is ac- 
quainted with all the preparations of the minister ; he knows 
when he hath provided a searching sermon fitted to the state 
and necessity of an hearer; and therefore he will keep him 
away that day, if it be possible, or else cast him asleep, or steal 
away the word by the cares and tulk of the world, or some way 
prevent its operation. 

This is the first hinderance. 

2. Wicked men also are great impediments to poor sinners 
when they should examine and discover their estates. 

1. Tbeir examples hinder much. When an ignorant sinner 
seeth all his friends and neighbours do as he doth, yea, the rich 
and learned as well as others, this is an exceeding great tempt- 
ation to proceed in his security. 

2. The mem company and discourse of these men do take 
away the thoughts of his spiritual state, and make the under- 
standing drunk : so that if the Spirit had before put into them 
any jealousy of themselves, or any purpose to try themselves, 
these do soon quench all. 

3. Also their continual discourse of matters of the world, 
doth damp all these purposes. 

4. Their railings also, and scorning at godly persons, is a 
very great impediment to multitudes of souls, and possesseth 
them with such a prejudice and dislike of the way to heaven, 
that they settle in the way they are in. 

5. Their constant persuasions, allurements, and threats, hin- 
der much* God doth scarce ever open the eyes of a poor sin- 
ne*, to see that his way is wrong, but presently there is a mul- 
titude of Satan's apostles ready 10 flatter him, and daub, and 
deceive, and settle him again in the quiet possession of his for- 
mer.master. What, say they, do you make a doubt of your 
salvation, who have lived so well, and done no body harm ? 
God is merciful : and if such as you shall not be saved, God 
help a great many : what do you think is become of all your 
fore-fathers ? And what will become of all your friends and 
neighbours that live' as you do? Will they all be damned ?•— * 
Shall oone be saved, think you, but a few strict ones? Come, 
come, if ye hearken to these books or preachers, they will 



132 *THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

drive you to despair, or drive you out of your wits : thus dy 
they follow the soul that is escaping from Satan, with restless 
cries, till they have brought him back : Oh, how many thou- 
sands have such charms kept asleep in security, till death and 
hell have awakened and better informed them ! The Lord calls 
to the sinner, and tells him, ' The gate is strait, the way is nar- 
now, and few find it : try and examine whether thou be in the 
faith or no : give all diligence to make sure in time.' — And the 
world cries out clean the contrary, never doubt, never trouble 
yourselves with these thoughts. — 1 entre&t the sinner that 
is in this strait, to consider, that it is Christ, and not their fath- 
ers, or mothers, or neighbours or friends, that must judge 
them : and if Christ condemn them, these cannot save them : 
and therefore common reason may tell them, that it is not from 
the words of ignorant men. bu. from the word of God that they 
mu^t fetch their nopes of salvation. 

When Ahib would inquire among the multitudes of flatter- 
ing pr phets, it was his death. 'I hey can flatter men into the 
snare, bui they cannot bring them out Oh, take the counsel 
of the Holy Gho t Eph. v. 6, 7. ' Let no man deceive you with 
vain words: for because of these things comt-th the wrath of 
G od upon th'j children of disobedience: be not ye therefore 
partakers with them : but save yourselves from this untoward 
generation.' 

3 But the greatest hinderances are in men's own hearts. 

1. So ne are so ignorant that they know not what self-exam- 
ination is, nor wha» a minister means when he persuadeth them 
to try themselves ; or they know not that there is any necessity 
of it : but think every man is bound to believe I hat God is his 
father, and that his sins are pardoned, whether it be true or 
fal-e, and that it were a great fault to make any question of 
it : or they do not think that assurance can be attained : or 
that there is any such great difference betwixt one man and 
another; but that we are all christians, and therefore need not 
trouble ourselves any further, or at least they know not where- 
in the difference lies ; nor how to set upon this searching of 
their hearts. They have as gross conceits of that regenera- 
tion, which they must search for, as JNicodemus had; tbey are 
like those in Acts xix. 2. that ' knew not whether there were 
a Holy Ghost to be received or no.' 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 133 

2. Some are so possessed with self-love and pride, that they 
will not so much as suspect any danger to themselves, tike a 
proud tradesman who scorns the motion when his friends desire 
him to cast up his books, because they are afraid he will break. 
As some fond parents that have an over-weaning" conceit of 
their own children, and therefore will not believe or hear any 
evil of them : such a fond self-love doth hinder men from sus- 
pecting and trying their states. 

3. Some are so guilty that they dare not try : they are so 
fearful that they should find their estates unsound, that they 
dare not search into them. And yet they dare venture them to 
a more dreadful trial. 

4. Some are so in love with their sin, and so in dislike with 
the way of God, that they dare not fall on the trial of their 
ways, lest they be forced from the course which they love. 

5. Some are so resolved already never to change their pres- 
ent state, that they neglect examination as a useless thing : be- 
fore they will turn so precise and seek a new way, when they 
have lived so long, and gone so far, they will put their eternal 
state to the venture, come of it what will. And when a man is 
fully resolved to hold to his way, and not to turn back, be it 
right or wrong, to wnat end should he inquire whether he be 
right or no ? 

6. Most men are so taken up with their worldly affairs, and 
are so busy in providing for the flesh, that they cannot set 
themselves to the trying of their title to heaven : they have an- 
other kind of happiness in their eye, which will not suffer them 
to make sure of heaven. 

7. But the most common impediment, is that false faith and 
hope commonly called presumption ; which bears up the hearts 
of most of the world, and so keeps them from suspecting their 
danger. 

Thus you see what abundance of difficulties must be over- 
come, before a man closely sets upon the examining of his 
heart. 

And if a man break through all these impediments and set 
upon the duty, yet, of those few who inquire after means of 
assurance, divers are deceived and miscarry, especially through 
these following causes. 

1. There is such confusion and darkness in the soul of man, 
especially of an unregenerate man, that he can scarcely tell 
M 



334 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

what he doth, or what is io him. As one can hardly find any 
thing in an house where nothing keeps its place, but all is cast 
on an heap together ; so it is in the heart where all things are 
in disorder, especially when darkness is added to this disorder: 
so that the heart is like an obscure dungeon, where there is but 
a little crevice of light, and a man must rather grope than see ; 
no wonder if men mistake in searching such an heart, and so 
miscarry in judging their estates. 

2. Besides, many are resolved what to judge before they try : 
they use the duty but to strengthen their present conceits of 
themselves, and not to find out the truth of their condition : like 
a bribed judge, who examines each party as if he would judge 
uprightly, when he is resolved which way the cause shall go 
before hand. Just so do men examine their hearts. 

3. Also men try themselves by false marks and rules : not 
knowing wherein the truth of Christianity doth consist : some 
looking beyond, and some short of the scripture-standard. 

Lastly, Men frequently miscarry in this' work, by setting on 
it in their own strength. As some expect the Spirit should do 
it without them, so others attempt it themselves without seek- 
ing or expecting the help of the Spirit : both these will certain- 
ly miscarry in their assurance. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

FURTHER CAUSES OF DOUBTING AMONG CHRISTIANS. 

Because the comfort of a christian^ life doth so much con- 
sist in his assurance of God's special love, and because the right 
way of obtaining it is so much controverted, 1 will here proceed 
a little further in opening to you some other hinderances which 
keep us christians from comfortable certainty. 

1. One great cause of doubting and uncertainty, is, the 
weakness of our grace. A little grace is next to none. Small 
things are hardly discerned. Most content themselves with a 
small measure of grace, and do not follow on to spiritual 
strength and manhood. They believe so weakly, and love God 
so little, that they can scarce find whether they believe and 
love at all. Like a man in a swoon,, whose pulse and breathing 
is so weak, that they can hardly be perceived whether they 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 135 

move at all, and consequently whether the man be alive or 
dead. 

The chief remedy for such would be, to follow on their duty, 
till their graces be increased : ply your work : wait upon God 
in the use of his prescribed means, and he will undoubtedly 
bless you with increase. O that christians would bestow most 
of that time in getting more grace, which they bestow in anx- 
ious doubtiogs, whether they have any or none ; and that they 
would lay out those serious affections in praying and seeking 
to Christ for more grace, which they bestow in fruitless com- 
plaints ! 1 beseech thee, take this advice as from God ! and 
then, when thou believest strongly, and lovest fervently, thou 
canst not doubt whether thou believe and love or not: no 
more than a man that is burning hot can doubt whether he be 
warm : or a man that is strong and lusty can doubt whether he 
be alive. 

2. Many a soul lieth long under doubting, through the im- 
perfection of their very reason, and exceeding weakness of 
their natural parts. Grace doth usually rather employ our 
faculties on better objects, than add to the degree of their nat- 
ural strength. Many honest hearts have such weak heads, 
that they know not how to perform the work of self-trial : they 
are not able to argue the case ; they will acknowledge the 
premises, and yet deny the apparent conclusion. Or if they 
be brought to acknowledge the conclusion, yet they do but 
stagger in their concession, and hold it so weakly, that ev- 
ery assault may take it from them. If God do not some other 
way supply to these men the defect of their reason, I see not 
how they should have clear and settled peace. 

3. Another common cause of doubting and discomfort, is, the 
secret maintaining some known sin. 

'When a man liveth in some unwarrantable practice, and 
God hath oft touched him for it, and yet he continueth it ; it is 
no wonder if this person waut both assurance and comfort. — 
One would think that a soul that is so tender as to tremble 
should be as tender of sinning : and yet sad experience telleth 
us that it is frequently otherwise : 1 have known too many 
such, that would complain and yet sin, and accuse themselves, 
and yet sin still, yea, and despair, and yet proceed in sinning : 
and all arguments and means could not keep them from the 
wilful committing of that sin again and again, which yet they 



136 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

themselves did think would prove their destruction. Yea, 
icme will be carried away with those sins that seen) most con- 
trary to their dejected temper. 1 have known them that would 
£11 men's ears with the constant lamentations of their miserable 
state, and accusations against themselves, as if they had been 
the most humble people in the world ; and yet be as passionate 
in the maintaining their innocency when another accuseth 
them, and as intolerably peevish, and tender of their reputation 
in any thing they are blamed for, as if they were the proudest 
persons on earth. 
This cherishing sin doth hinder assurance these four ways. 

1 . It doth abate the degree of our graces, and so makes them 
undiscernable. 

2. It obscureth that which it destroy eth not ; for it beareth 
such sway, that grace is not seen to stir, nor scarce heard speak 
for the noise of this corruption. 

3. It putteth out or darkeneth the eye of the soul, and it be- 
numbeth and stupifieth it. 

4. But especially it provoketh God to withdraw himself, bis 
comforts and the assistance of the Spirit, without which, we 
ir.oj search long enough before we have assurance. God hath 
made a separation betwixt sin and peace. As long as thou dost 
cherish thy pride, thy love of the world, the desires of the flesb, 
or any unchristian practice, thou expectest assurance and com- 
fort in vain. God will not encourage thee by his precious gifts 
in a course of sinning. This worm will be gnawing upon tby 
conscience : It will be a devouring canker to thy consolations. 
Thou mayest steal a spark of false comfort from thy worldly 
prosperity or delight : or thou mayest have it from some false 
opinions, or from the delusion* of Satan ; but from God thou 
wilt have no comfort. However an Antinomian may tell thee, 
that thy comforts have no dependence upon thy obedience, nor 
thy discomforts upon tby disobedience : and therefore may 
Bpeak peace to thee in the course of thy sinning ; yet thou shalt 
find by experience that God will not. If any man set up his 
idols in his heart, and put the stumbling-block of his iniquity 
before his face, and cometh to a minister or to God, to inquire 
for assurance and comfort, God will answer that man by him- 
self, and instead of comforting him, he will set his face against 
him, < he will answer him according to the multitude of his 
idols. 5 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 137 

5. Another common cause of want of assurance and comfort, 
is, when men grow lazy in the spiritual part of duty. As 
Dr. Sibbs saith truly, " it is the lazy christian commonly that 
lacketh assurance." The way of painful duty, is the way of 
fullest comfort. Christ carrieth all our comforts in his hand : 
if we are out of that way where Christ is to be met, we are out 
of the way where comfort is to be had. 

These two ways doth this laziness debar us of our comforts. 

1. By stopping the fountain, and causing Christ to withhold 
this blessing from us. Parents use not to smile upon children 
in their neglects and disobedience. So far as the Spirit is 
grieved, he will suspend his consolations. Assurance and 
peace are Christ's great encouragements to faithfulness and 
obedience ; and therefore (though our obedience do not merit 
them, yet) they usually rise and fall with our diligence in duty. 
They that have entertained the Antinomian dotage to cover 
their idleness and viciousness, may talk their nonsense against 
this at pleasure, but the laborious christian knows it by expe- 
rience. As prayer must have faith and fervency to procure its 
success, besides the bloodshed and intercession of Christ, so 
must all other parts of our obedience. He that will say to us 
in that triumphing day, l Well done, good and faithful servant, 
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord ;' will also comfort his ser- 
vants in their most affectionate and spiritual duties, and say, 
« Well done, good and faithful servant, take this foretaste of thy 
everlasting joy.' If thou grow seldom and customary, and cold 
in duty, especially in thy secret prayers to God, and yet findest 
no abatement in thy joys, I cannot but fear that tby joys are 
either carnal or diabolical. 

2. The action of the soul upon such excellent objects doth 
naturally bring consolation with it. The very act of loving 
God in Christ, doth bring inexpressible sweetness into the soul. 
The soul that is best furnished with grace when it is not in ac- 
tion, is like a lute well stringed and tuned, which, while it lieth 
still, doth make no more music than a common piece of wood : 
but when it is taken up and handled by a skilful lutist, the melo- 
dy is delightful. Some degree of comfort follows every g ood ac- 
tion, as heat accompanies fire, and as beams and influence issue 
from the sun : which is so true, that the very heathens upon 
*he discharge of a good conscience, have found comfort and 

m 2 



138 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST- 

peace answerable. This is prcemium ante prcemium : a reward 
before the reward. 

As a man therefore that is cold should not stand still and say, 
1 am so cold that I have no mind to labour, but labour till his 
coldness be gone, and heat excited ; so he that wants the com- 
fort of assurance, must not stand still, and say, I am so doubtful 
and uncomfortable, that 1 hare no mind for duty ; but ply his 
duty, and exercise his graces, till he finds his doubts and dis- 
comforts vanish. 

And thus I have shewn you the chief causes, why so many 
christians enjoy so little assurance and consolation. 



CHAPTER IX. 

CONTAINING DIRECTIONS FOR EXAMINATION, AND SOME MARKS 
OF TRIAL. 

I will not stand here to lay down the directions necessary 
for preparation to this duty, because you may gather them from 
what is said concerning the hinderances : for the contraries of 
those hinderances will be the most necessary helps. Only be- 
fore you set upon it, 1 advise you to the observation of these 
rules. 

1 . Come not with too peremptory conclusions of yourselves 
beforehand. Do not judge too confidently before you try. 

2. Be sure to be so well acquainted with the scripture, as to 
know what is the tenor of the covenant of grace, and what are 
the conditions of justification and glorification, and consequent- 
ly what are sound marks to try thyself by. 

3. Be a constant observer of the temper and motions of thy 
heart: most of the difficulty of the work doth lie in true and 
clear discerning of it. Be watchful in observing the actings 
both of grace and corruption, and the circumstances of their 
actings : as, how frequent ? how violent ? how strong or weak 
were the outward incitements ? how great or small the impedi- 
ments ? what delight, or loathing, or fear, or reluctancy did go 
with those acts ? 

1. Empty thy mind of all thy other cares and thoughts, that 
they do not distract or divide thy mind : this work will be 
enough at once of itself, without joining others with it. 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 139 

2. Then fall down before God, and in hearty prayer, desire 
the assistance of his Spirit, to discover to thee the plain truth 
of thy condition, and to enlighten thee in the whole progress of 
the work. 

I will not digress to warn you here of the false rules and 
marks of trial of which you must beware. But 1 will briefly 
adjoin some marks to try your title to this rest. 

1 . Every soul that hath a title to this rest, doth place his hap- 
piness in it, and make it the ultimate end of his soul. This is 
the first mark ; which is so plain a truth, that I need not stand 
to prove it. For this rest consisteth in the full and glorious en- 
joyment of God ; and he that maketh not God his ultimate end, 
is in heart a pagan and vile idolater. 

Let me ask thee then ; dost thou truly account it thy chief 
happiness to enjoy the Lord in glory, or dost thou not ? Canst 
thou say with David, s The Lord is my portion ? And whom 
have I in heaven but thee ? And whom in earth that 1 desire 
in comparison of thee ?' If thou be an heir of rest, it is thus 
with thee. Though the flesh will be pleading for its own de- 
lights, and the world will be creeping into thine affection, yet 
in thy ordinary, settled, prevailing judgment and affections, 
thou preferest God before all things in the world. 

1. Thou makesthim the end of thy desires and endeavours: 
the very reason why thou hearest and prayest, why thou desirest 
to live and breathe on earth, is this, that thou mayst seek the 
Lord. Thou seekest first the kingdom of God and its right- 
eousness : though thou dost not seek it so zealously as thou 
shouldst ; yet hath it the chief of thy desires and endeavours .* 
and nothing else is desired or preferred before it. 

2. Thou wilt think no labour or suffering too great to obtain 
it. And though the flesh may sometimes shrink, yet art thou 
resolved and content to go through all. 

3. If thou be an heir of rest, thy valuation of it will be so high, 
and thy affection to it so great, that thou wouldst not exchange 
thy title to it, and hopes of it, for any worldly good whatsoever. 
If God would set before thee an eternity of earthly pleasure 
on one hand, and the rest of the saiots on the other, and bid 
thee take thy choice : thou wouldst refuse the world, and 
choose this rest. 

But if thou be yet in the flesh, then it is clean contrary with 
thee; then dost thou in thy heart prefer thy worldly happiness 



140 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

before God : and though thy tongue may say, that God is the 
chief good, yet thy heart doth not so esteem him. For, 

1. The world is the chief end of thy desires and endeavours ; 
thy very heart is set upon it; thy greatest care and labour is to 
maintain thy estate, or credit, or fleshly delights. But the life 
to come hath little of thy care or labour. Thou didst never per- 
ceive so much excellency in the unseen glory as to draw thy 
heart so after it ; but that little pains which thou bestowest 
that way, it is but in the second place. God hath but the 
world's leavings, and that time and labour which thou canst 
spare from the world, or those few cold and careless thoughts 
which follow thy constant, earnest, and delightful thoughts of 
earthly things ; neither wouldst thou do any thing at all for 
heaven, if thou knewest bow to keep the world : but lest thou 
shouldst be turned into hell, when thou canst keep the world 
no longer, therefore thou wilt do something. 

2. Therefore it is that thou thinkest the way of God too strict, 
and wilt not be persuaded to the constant labour of walking ac- 
cording to the gospel rule : and when it comes to trial, that 
thou must forsake Christ or thy worldly happiness, and the 
wind which was in thy back doth turn in thy face, then thou 
wilt venture heaven rather than earth, and (as desperate re- 
bels use to say) thou wilt rather trust God's mercy for thy soul, 
than man's for thy body ; and so deny thy obedience to God. 

3. And certainly if God would but give thee leave to live in 
health and wealth for ever on earth, thou wouldst think it a 
better state than rest : let them seek for heaven that would, 
thou wouldst think this thy chiefest happiness. This is thy 
case if thou be yet an unregenerate person, and hast no title to 
the saints rest. 

The second mark which I shall give thee, to try whether 
thou be an heir of rest, is this ; 

As thou takest God for thy chief good, so, thou dost heartily 
accept of Christ for thy only Saviour and Lord to bring theerto 
this rest. The former mark was the sum of the first and great 
command of the law of nature, [' Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
God.'] This second mark is the sum of the command or condi- 
tion of the gospel, [< Believe in the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt 
be saved.'] And the performance of these two, is the whole 
sum or essence of godliness and Christianity. Observe there- 
fore the parts of this mark, which is but a definition of faith. 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 141 

f. Dost thou find that thou art naturally a lost condemned 
man, for thy breach of the first covenant ? And believe that 
Jesus Christ is the mediator who hath made a sufficient satisfac- 
tion to the law ? And hearing* in the gospel that he is offered 
without exception unto all, dost thou heartily consent that he 
alone shall be thy Saviour ? And no further trust to thy duties 
and works, than as conditions required by him, and means ap- 
pointed in subordination to him ? Not looking 1 at them as in 
the least measure able to satisfy the course of the law, or as 
a legal righteousness, nor any part of it ? But art content to 
trust thy salvation on the redemption made by Christ ? 

2. Art thou also content to take him for thy only Lord and 
King, to govern and guide thee by his laws and Spirit ? And to 
obey him even when he commandeth the hardest duties, and 
those which most cross the desires of the flesh ? Is it thy sorrow 
when thou breakest thy resolution herein? And thy joy when 
thou keepest closest in obedience to him ? Wouldst thou not 
change thy Lord and Master for all the world? Thus it is with 
every true christian. But if thou be an unbeliever, it is far 
otherwise. Thou mayest call Christ thy Lord and thy Saviour .* 
but thou never foundest thyself so lost without him, as to drive 
thee to trust him, and lay thy salvation on him alone : or at 
least thou didst never heartily consent that he should govern 
thee as thy Lord ; nor resign up thy soul and life to be ruled 
by him ; nor take his word for the law of thy thoughts and ac- 
tions. It is like thou art content to be saved from hell by 
Christ when thou diest ; but in the mean time he shall com- 
mand thee no further than will stand with thy credit, or plea- 
sure, or worldly estate and ends. And if he would give thee 
leave, thou hadst far rather live after the world and flesh, than 
after the word and Spirit. And though thou mayest now and 
then have a motion or purpose to the contrary ; yet this that 1 
have mentioned is the ordinary desire and choice of thine 
heart : and so thou art no true believer in Christ : for though 
thou confess him in words, yet in works, thou dost deny him, 
1 being disobedient, and to every good work a disapprover and 
a reprobate,' Tit. 1.16. This is the case of those that shall be 
shut out of the saints rest. 



142 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

CHAPTER X. 

THE REASON OF THE SAINTS AFFLICTIONS HERE. 

A further use which we must make of the present doctrine 
Is, to inform us why the people of God suffer so much in this 
life. What wonder ? when you see their rest doth yet remain : 
they are not yet come to their resting place. We would all 
fain have continual prosperity, because it is pleasing to the 
flesh ; but we consider not the unreasonableness of such de- 
sires. We are like children, who if they see any thing which 
their appetite desireth, cry, for it: and if you tell them that it is 
unwholesome, or hurtful for them, they are never the more 
quieted ; or if you go about to heal any sore that they have, 
they will not endure you to hurt them, though you tell them, 
that they cannot otherwise be healed ; their sense is too strong 
for their reason, and therefore reason doth little persuade them. 
Even so it is with us when God is afflicting us : he giveth us 
reasons why we must bear it, so that our reason is oft convinc- 
ed and satisfied, and yet we cry and complain still : it is not 
reason, but ease that we must hare : spiritual remedies may 
cure the spirit's maladies ; but that will not content the flesh. 

But methinks christians should have another palate than that 
of the flesh, to try and relish providences by : God hath given 
them the Spirit to subdue the flesh. And therefore I shall here 
give them some reasons of God's dealing in their present suffer- 
ings, whereby the equity and mercy therein may appear : and 
they shall be only such as are drawn from the reference that 
these afflictions have to our rest; which being a christian's 
happiness, and ultimate end, will direct him in judging of all 
estates and means. 

1. Consider then, That labour and trouble are the common 
way to rest> both in the course of nature and of grace. Can 
there possibly be rest without motion and weariness ? Do jou 
not travel and toil first, and then rest afterwards ? The day for 
labour goes first, and then the night for rest doth follow. Why 
should we desire the course of grace to be perverted, any more 
than we would do the course of nature ? God did once dry up 
the sea to make a passage for his people; and once made the 
sun in the firmament to stand still ; but must he do so always ? 
Or as oft a* we would have him ? It is his established decree, 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 143 

1 That through many tribulations we must enter into the king- 
dom of heaven.' Acts xiv. 2£. * And that if we suffer with him, 
we shall also be glorified with him,' 2 Tim. ii. 12. And what 
are we, that God's statutes should be reversed for our pleasure ? 
As Bildad said to Job, chap, xviii. 4. * Shall the earth be forsa- 
ken for thee? or the rock be removed out of his place ? So, 
must God pervert his established order for thee ?' 

2. Consider also, That afflictions are exceeding useful to us, 
to keep us from mistaking our resting place, and bo taking up 
short of it. A christian's motion heaven-wards, is voluntary, 
and not constrained. Those means therefore are most profita- 
ble to him, which help his understanding and will in this prose- 
cution. The most dangerous mistake that our souls are capa- 
ble of, is, to take the creature for God, and earth for heaven.— 
And yet, alas, how common is this ! Though we are ashamed 
to speak so much with our tongues, yet how oft do our hearts 
say, * It is best being here !' And how contented are we with 
an earthly portion ! So that 1 fear, God would displease most 
of us more to afflict us here, and promise us rest hereafter, than 
to give us our hearts desire on earth, though he had never made 
us a promise of heaven. As if the creature without God, were 
better than God without the creature. Alas, how apt are we, 
like foolish children, when we are busy at our sports and 
worldly employments, to forget both our father and our home ! 
Therefore it is a hard thing for a rich man to enter into heaven, 
because it is hard for him to value it more than earth, and not 
think he is well already. Come to a man that hath the world 
at will, and tell him, This is not your happiness, you have high- 
er things to look after ; and how little will he regard you ? But 
when affliction comes, it speaks convincingly, and will be heard 
when preachers cannot. 

Sometimes a sincere man begins to be lifted up with ap- 
plause ; and sometimes being in health and prosperity, he hath 
lost his relish of Christ, and the joys above ; till God break in 
upon his riches, and scatter them abroad, or upon his children, 
or upon his conscience, or upon the health of his body, and 
break down his mount which he thought so strong : and then, 
when he lieth in Manassah's fetters, or is fastened to his bed 
with pining sickness, O what an opportunity hath the Spirit to 
plead with his soul ! When the world is worth nothing, then 
heaven is worth something. 



144 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

How oft have I been ready to think myself at home, till sick 
ness hath roundly told me, 1 was mistaken ! And how apt yet 
to fall into the same disease, which prevaileth till it be removed 
by the same cure ! If our dear Lord did not put these thorns 
into our bed, we should sleep out our lives, and lose our glory. 

3. Consider, afflictions are God's most effectual means to 
keep us f r om straggling out of the way to our rest. If he had 
not set a hedge of thorns on the right hand, and on the left, we 
•hould hardly keep the way to heaven : If there be but one 
gap open without these thorns, how ready are we to turn out 
at it 1 But when we cannot go astray but these thorns will prick 
us, perhaps we will be content to hold the way. When we 
grow wanton, or worldly, or proud ; what a notable means is 
sickness, or other affliction, to reduce us ! It is every christian, 
as well as Luther, that may call affliction one of his best school- 
masters. Many a one, as well as David, may say by experi- 
ence, l Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now have 1 
kept thy precepts.' Many a thousand poor recovered sinners 
may cry, O healthful sickness ! O comfortable sorrows ! O 
gainful losses ! O enriching poverty ! O blessed day that ever 
I was afflicted ! It is not only ' the pleasant streams, and the 
green pastures, but his rod and staff also that are our comfort.' 
Though I know it is the word and Spirit that do the work ; yet 
certainly the time of suffering is so opportune a season, that the 
same word will take them then, which before was scarce ob- 
served : it doth so unbolt the door of the heart, that a minister 
or a friend may then be heard, and the word may have easier 
entrance to the affections. 

4. Consider, afflictions are God's most effectual means, to 
make us mend our pace in the way to our rest. They are his 
rod, and his spur: what sluggard will not awake and stir when 
he feeleth them ? It were well if mere love would prevail with 
us, and that we were rather drawn to heaven than driven : but 
seeing our hearts are so bad, that mercy will not do it ; ii is 
better we be put on with the sharpest scourge, than loiter out 
our time till the doors are shut. 

O what a difference is there betwixt our prayers in health 
and in sickness ! betwixt our prosperity and adversity-repent- 
ings ! He that before had not a tear to shed, or a groan to ut- 
ter, now can sob, and sigh, and weep : he that was wont to lie 
like a block in prayer* and scarce minded what he said to God : 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 14.5 

now affliction presseth him down, how earnestly can he beg • 
How doth he mingle his prayers and his tears! And cry out, 
what a person he will be, if God will but hear him and deliver 
him! Alas ! if we did not sometimes feel the spur, what a slow 
pace would most of us hold toward heaven ! 

Seeing then what our vile natures require, why should we be 
unwilling" God should do us good by a sharp means ? Sure that 
i9 the best dealing for us, which surest and soonest doth further 
us for heaven. 1 leave thee, christian, to judge by thy own ex- 
perience, whether thou dost not go more watchfully, and live- 
ly, and speedily in thy way to rest, in thy sufferings, than thou 
dost in thy more pleasing and prosperous state. 

Lastly, consider God doth seldom give his people so sweet a 
foretaste of their future rest, as in their deep afflictions. He 
keepeth his most precious cordials for the time of our greatest 
faintings and dangers. God is not so lavish of his choice favours 
as to bestow them unseasonably : he gives them at so fit a time, 
when he knoweth they are needful, and will be valued ; and 
when he is sure to be thauked for the n, and his people rejoiced 
by them. Especially, when our sufferings are more directly 
for his cause, then doth he seldom fail of sweetening the bitter 
cup. Therefore have the martyrs been possessors of the highest 
joys, and therefore were they so ambitious of martyrdom. I do 
not think that Paul and Silas did ever sing more joyfully, than 
when they were sore with scourgings, and fast in the inner pri- 
son, with their feet in the stocks. When did Christ preach 
?uch comforts to his disciples, and assure them of his providing 
them mansions with himself, but when he was ready to leave 
them, and their hearts were sorrowful because of his departure ? 
When did he appear among them, and say, ( peace be unto 
you,' but when they were shut up together for fear of the per- 
secuting Jews ? When did Stephen see heaven opened, but 
when he was giving up his life for the testimony of Jesus ? And 
though we be never put to the suffering of martyrdom, yet 
God knoweth that in our natural sufferings we need support. 

Seeing then that the time of affliction is the time of our most 
pure, spiritual, and heavenly joy, for the most part; why 
should a christian think it so bad a time ? Is not that our best 
estate, wherein we have most of God ? Why else do we desire 
to come to heaven ? If we look for a heaven of fleshly delights, 
we shall find ourselves mistaken. Conclude then, that afflte- 

N 



S46 TK2 SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

tion is not so bad a state in our way to rest, as the flesh would 
make it. Are we wiser than God ? Doth not he know what is 
good for us better than we ? Or is he not as careful of our good, 
as we are of our own ? Ah wo to us if he were not much more ! 
And if he did not love us better than we love either him or our- 
selves !^ 
But let us hear a little what it is that we can object. 

1, Oh, saith one, I could bear any other affliction save this : 
if God had touched me in any thing else, 1 could have under- 
gone it patiently ; but it is my dearest friend, or child, or wife, 
or my health itself. 

i answer, it seemeth God hath hit the right vein, where thy 
most inflamed, distempered blood did lie : it is his constant 
course to pull down men's idols, and take away that which is 
dearer to them than himself. There it is that his jealousy is 
kindled ; and there it is that the soul is most endangered. If 
God should have taken from thee that which thou canst let go 
for him, and not that which thou canst not ; or hare afflicted 
thee where thou canst bear it, and not where thou canst not; 
thy idol would neither have been discovered nor removed ; this 
would neither have been a sufficient trial to thee, nor a cure, 
but have confirmed thee in thy idolatry. 

Object. 2. Oh, but saith another, if God would but deliver 
me out of it at last, I could be content to bear it : but I have an 
incurable sickness, or 1 am like to live and die in poverty, or 
disgrace, or distress. 

I answer, 1. Is it nothing that he hath promised, ' it shall 
work for thy good ?' Rom. viii. 28. and c that with the afflic- 
tion he will make a way to escape ?' that he will be with thee 
in it? and deliver thee in the fittest manner and season ? 

2. Is it not enough that thou art sure to be delivered at death, 
and that with so full a deliverance ? Oh, what cursed unbelief 
doth this discover in our hearts ! That we would be more 
thankful to be turned back again into the stormy sea of the 
world, than to be safely and speedily landed at our rest ! And 
would be more glad of a few years inferior mercies at a dis- 
tance, than to enter upon the eternal inheritance with Christ ! 
Do we call God our chief good, and heaven our happiness ? and 
yet is it no mercy or deliverance to be taken hence, and put in- 
to that possession ? 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST- 147 

Object. 3. Oh, but saith another, if my affliction did not dis- 
able me for duty, I could bear it : but it maketh me useless and 
utterly unprofitable. 

Answ. 1. For that duty which tendeth to thy own benefit, it 
doth not disable thee ; but is the greatest help that thou canst 
expect. Thou usest to complain of coldness, and dullness, and 
worldliness, and security : if affliction will not help thee against 
all these, by warning, quickening, rouzing thy spirit, 1 know 
not what will. Sure thou wilt repent thoroughly, and pray fer- 
vently, and mind God and heaven more seriously, either now 
or never. 

2. As for duty to others, and service to the church, it is not 
thy duty when God doth disable thee. He may call thee out of 
the vineyard in this respect, even before he call thee by death. 
If he laf thee in the grave, and put others in thy place, is this 
any wrong to thee ? So if he call thee out before thy death, and 
set others to do the work, should thou not be as well content .? 
Must God do all the work by thee? Hath he not many others 
as dear to him, and as fit for the employment ? But alas, what 
deceitfulness lieth in these hearts ! When we have time, and 
health, and opportunity to work, then we loiter, and do our 
Master but poor service : but when he layeth affliction upon 
us, then we complain that he disableth us for his work, and yet 
perhaps we are still negligent in that part of the work which 
we can do. So, when we are in health and prosperity, we for- 
get the public, and are careless of other men's miseries and 
wants, and mind almost nothing but ourselves ; but when God 
afflicteth us, though he excite us more to duty for ourselves, 
yet we complain that he disableth us for our duty to others : as 
if on a sudden we were grown so charitable, that we regard 
other men's souls more than our own ! But is not the hand of 
flesh in all this dissimulation, pleading its own cause ? What 
pride of heart is this, to think fchat other men cannot do the 
work as well as we ! Or that God cannot see to his church, and 
provide for his people, without us ! 

Object. 4. Oh, but saith another, it is my friends that are my 
aiflictors : they disclaim me, and will scarce look at me : they 
censure me, and backbite me, and slander me, and look upon 
me with a disdainful eye ; i£ it were others, 1 could bear it, I 
look for no better from them : but when those that are my de- 



148 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

light, and thai 1 looked for comfort and refreshing 1 from, when 
those are thorns in ray sides, who can bear it ? 

Answ. jf. Whoever is the instrument, the affliction is from 
God, and the provoking cause from thyself; and were it not 
fitter that thou lock more to God and thyself? 

2. Dost thou not know, that good men are still sinful in part ? 
and that their hearts are naturally deceitful, and desperately 
wicked, as well as others ? Learn therefore a better lesson 
from the prophet, Mich. vii. 5, 6, 7. ' Trust not (too much) in 
a friend, nor put confidence in a guide : keep the doors of thy 
mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom : but look rather for the 
Lord, and wait for the God of thy salvation.' 

3. It is likely thou hast given that love and trust to men, 
which was due only to God ; or which thou hast denied him : 
and then no wonder if he chastise thee by them. If w# would 
use our friends as friends, God would make them our helps and 
comforts: but when once we make them our gods, by exces- 
sive love and trust, then he suffers them to be our accusers and 
tormentors : it is more safe to me to have any creature a satan 
than a god ; to be tormented by them than to idolize them. — 
Till thou hast learned to suffer from the good, as well as the 
ungodly, never look to live a contented or comfortable life, nor 
ever think thou hast truly learned the art of suffering. 

Object. 5. Oh, but if 1 had that consolation, which you say 
God reserveth for our suffering times, I should suffer more con- 
tentedly : but I do not perceive any such thing. 

Answ. 1 . The more you suffer for righteousness' sake, the 
more of this blessing you may expect; and the more you suffer 
for your own evil doing, the longer you must look to stay till 
that sweetness come. When we have by our folly provoked 
God to chastise us, shall we presently look that lie should fill 
us with comfort.'' "That were (as Mr. Paul Bayn saith) to 
make affliction to be no affliction." What good would the bit- 
terness do us, if it be presently drowned in that sweetness ? It 
is well in such sufferings, if you have but supporting grace, 
and if your sufferings are sanctified to work out your sin. 

2. Do you not neglect or resist the comforts which you de- 
sire? God hath filled precepts and promises, and other of his 
providences, with matter of comfort : if you overlook all these* 
and observe one cross more than a thousand mercies, who ma- 
keth you uncomfortable but yourselves ? If you resolve you will 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 149 

not be comfortable as long as any thing aileth your flesh, you 
may stay till death before you have comfort. 

3. Have your afflictions wrought kindly with you and fitted 
you for comfort ? Have they humbled you, and brought you to 
a faithful confession and reformation of your beloved sin ? and 
made you set close to your neglected duties ? and weaned your 
hearts from their former idols ? and brought them unfeignedly 
to take God for their portion and their rest ? If this be not done, 
how can you expect comfort? Should God bind up the sore 
while it festereth at the bottom? It is not mere suffering that 
prepares you for comfort ; but the success and fruit of suffering 
upon your hearts. 



CHAPTER XI. 

AN EXHORTATION TO THOSE THAT HAVE GOT ASSURANCE OF 
THIS REST, THAT THEY WOULD DO ALL THEY POSSIBLY CAN 
TO HELP OTHERS TO IT. 

Hath God set before us such a glorious prize as this ever- 
lasting Rest, and made man capable of such an inconceivable 
happiness ! Why then do not aM the children of this kingdom 
bestir themselves more to help others to the enjoyment of it ! 
Alas, how little are poor souls about us, beholden to the most 
of us ! We see the glory of the kingdom, and they do not : we 
see the misery and torment of those that miss of it, and they do 
not : we see them wandering quite out of the way, and know 
if they hold on they can never come there ; and they discern 
not this themselves. And yet we will not set upon them seri- 
ously, and shew them their danger and error, and help to bring 
them into the way that they may live. Alas, how few chris- 
tians are there to be found, that live as men that are made to 
do good, and that set themselves with all their might to the 
saving of souls ! No thanks to us if heaven be not empty, and if 
the souls of our brethren perish not for ever. 

But because this is a duty which so many neglect, and so few 
are convinced that God doth expect it at their hands, and yet a 
duty of so high concernment to the glory of God, and the hap- 
piness of men; 1 will speak of it somewhat the more largely, 
..N-2- 



150 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST, 

and shew you, 1. Wherein it doth consist. 2. What is the 
cause that it is so neglected. 3. Give some considerations to 
persuade you to the performance of it, and others to the bear- 
ing of it. 4. Apply this more particularly to some persons 
whom it doth nearly concern. 

1 . I would hare you well understand what is this work which 
I am persuading you to. Know then on the negative,^ 

1 . It is not to invade the office of the ministry, and every man 
to turn a public preacher. I would not have you go beyond 
the bounds of your calliog : we see by daily experience, what 
fruits those men's teaching doth bring forth, who run uncalled 
of God, and thrust themselves into the place of public teachers, 
thinking themselves the fittest for the work in the pride of their 
hearts, while they had need to be taught the very principles of 
religion : how little doth God bless the labours of these self- 
conceited intruders, even if they be ordained ! 

2. Neither do I persuade you to a zealous promoting of fac- 
tions and parties, and venting of uncertain opinions, which 
men's salvation is little concerned in. Alas, what advan- 
tage hath the devil always got in the church by this imposture ! 
The time tbat should be employed in drawing men's souls 
from sin to Christ, is employed in drawing them to opinions and 
parties : when men are fallen in love with their own conceits, 
and think themselves the wisest, how diligently do they labour 
to get them followers ? as if to make a man a proselyte to their 
opinions, were as happy a work as to convert him to Christ ! and 
when they fall among the lighter, ignorant sort of men, whose 
religion is all in the brain, and on their tongue, they seldom 
fail of success. These men shall shortly know, that to bring 
a man to the knowledge and love of Christ, is another kind of 
work than to bring him to be baptized again, or to be of such 
a church, or such a side. Unhappy are the souls that are ta- 
ken in their snare ; who, when they have spent their lives in con- 
tending for the circumstantials of religion; which should have 
been spent in studying and loving the Lord Jesus, do in the 
end reap an empty harvest, suitable to their empty profession. 

3. Nor do I persuade you to speak against men's faults be- 
hind their backs, and be silent before their faces, as the com- 
mon custom of the world is. To tell other men of their faults, 
tendeth little to their reformation, if I hey hear it not them- 
selves. To whisper men's faults to others, as it cometh not 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST.' 161 

from lore, or from an honest principle, so usually doth it pro- 
duce no good effect ; for if the party hear not of it, it cannot 
better him ; if he do, he will take it but as the reproach of an 
enemy, and not as the faithful counsel of a friend, and as that 
which is spoken to make him odious, and not to make him virtu- 
ous ; it tendeth not to provoke to godliness, but to raise conten- 
tion ; for ' a whisperer separateth chief friends.' And how few 
shall we find that make conscience of this horrible sin ? or that 
will confess it, and bewail it, when they are reprehended for 
it? especially if men are speaking of their enemies, or those 
that have wronged them : or whom they suppose to have wrong- 
ed them, or if it be of one that eclipseth their glory, or that 
standeth in the way of their gain or esteem : or if it be one that 
differeth from them in judgment ; or of one that is commonly 
spoke against by others ; who is it that maketh any conscience 
of backbiting such as these ? And you shall ever observe, that 
the forwarder they are to backbiting, the more backward al- 
ways to faithful admonishing ; and none speak less of a man's 
faults to his face, than those that speak most of them behind his 
back. 

So far am 1 from persuading therefore to this preposterous 
course, that 1 would advise you to oppose it wherever you meet 
with it. See that you never hear a man speaking against his 
neighbour behind his back (without some special cause or call) 
but presently rebuke him : ask him, whether he hath spoke 
those things in a way of love to his face ? if he hath not, ask him 
how he dare to pervert God's prescribed order, who comraand- 
eth to rebuke our neighbour plainly, and to tell him his fault 
first in private, and then before witness, till he see whether 
he will be won, or not? And how he dare do as he would not 
be done by ? 

The duty therefore that 1 would press you to is of another na- 
ture, and it consisteth in these things following : 

1. That you get your hearts affected with the misery of your 
brethren's souls ; be compassionate towards them ; yearn after 
their salvation. If you did earnestly long after their conver- 
sion, and your hearts were fully set to do them good, it would 
set you on work, and God would usually bless it. 

2. Take all opportunities that possibly you can, to instruct 
and help them to the attaining of salvation. And lest you 
should not know how to manage this work, let me tell you more 



152 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

particularly what you are herein to do. 1. If it be an ignorant 
person you have to deal with, who is an utter stranger to the 

mysteries of religion, and to the work of regeneration, the first 
thing you have to do, is, to acquaint him with these doctrines : 
labour to make him understand wherein man's chief happiness 
doth consist; and how far he was once possessed of it ; and 
what law and covenant God then made with him ; and how he 
broke it ; and what penalty he incurred, and what misery he 
brought himself into thereby : teach him what need men had 
of a Redeemer; and how Christ in mercy did interpose, and 
bear the penalty ; and what covenant now he hath made with 
man ; and on what terms only salvation is now to be attained : 
and what course Christ taketh to draw men to himself; and 
what are the riches and privileges that believers have in him. 

If when be understands these things, he be not moved by 
them ; or if you find that the stop lieth in his will and affections, 
and in the hardness of his heart, and in the interest that the 
flesh and the world have got in him ; then shew him the excel- 
lency of the glory which he neglecteth, and the intolerable- 
nessofthe loss of it, and the extremity and eternity of the 
torments of the damned, and how certainly they must en- 
dure them ; and how just it is for their wilful refusals of grace ; 
and how heinous a sin it is to reject such free and abund- 
ant mercy, and to tread under foot the blood of the covenant : 
shew him the certainty, nearness, and terrors of death and 
judgment, and the vanity of all things below, which now he 
is taken up with: and how little they will bestead him in 
that time of his extremity. Shew him that by nature he him- 
self is a child of wrath, an enemy to God ; and by actual sin 
much more : shew him the vile and heinous nature of sin ; the 
absolute necessity he standeth in of a Saviour ; the freeness of 
the promise ; the fulness of Christ ; the sufficiency of his satis- 
faction ; his readiness to receive all that are willing to be his ; 
and the authority and dominion which he hath purchased over 
us : shew him also the absolute necessity of regeneration, faith 
and holiness, how impossible it is to have salvation by Christ 
without these : and what they are, and the true nature of them. 

If when he understandeth all this, you fiod his soul enthrall- 
ed in false hopes, persuading himself that he is a true believer, 
and pardoned, and reconciled, and shall be saved by Christ, and 
all this upon false grounds (which is a common case) then urge 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 153 

him hard to examine his state ; shew hirn the necessity of try- 
ing ; the danger of being deceived; the commonness and easi- 
ness of mistaking through the deceitfulness of the heart; the 
extreme madness of putting it to a blind venture ; or of rest- 
ing in negligent or wilful uncertainty ; help him in tryiDg him- 
self; produce some undeniable evidences from scripture ; ask 
him whether these be in him or not? Whether ever he found 
such workings or dispositions in his heart. Urge him to a ra- 
tional answer : do not leave him till you have convinced him of 
his misery; and then seasonably and wisely shew him the re- 
medy. 

If he produces some gifts, or duties, or work ; know to what 
end he doth produce them : if to join with Christ in composing 
him a righteousness, shew him how vain and destructive they 
are ; if it be by way of evidence to prove his title to Christ, 
shew him wherein the life of Christianity doth consist, and how 
far he must go further, if he will be Christ's disciple. In the 
mean time, that he be not discouraged with hearing of so high 
a measure, shew him the way by which he must attain it : be 
sure to draw him to the use of all means : set him on hearing 
and reading the word, calling upon God, accompanying the 
godly : persuade him to leave his actual sin, and to get out of 
all ways of temptation ; especially to forsake ungodly compa- 
ny; and to wait patiently on God in the use of means: and 
shew him the strong hopes that in so doing he may have a bless- 
ing; tins being the way that God will be found in. 

If you perceive him possessed with any prejudices against the 
way of holiness, shew him their falsehood, and with wisdom and 
meekness answer his objections. 

Jf he be addicted to delay duties he is convinced of, or lazi- 
ness and stupidity endanger his soul, then lay it on more power- 
fully, and set home upon his heart the most piercing considera- 
tions, and labour to fasten them as thorns in his conscience, 
that he may find no ease or rest till he change his estate. 

But because in all works the manner of doing them is of great- 
est moment, and the right performance doth much further the 
success ; I will here adjoin a [ew directions, which you must be 
sure to observe in this work of exhortation ; for it is not every 
advice that useth to succeed, nor any manner of doing it that 
will serve the turn. Observe therefore these rules.' 



154 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

1. Set upon the work sincerely, and with right intentions. — 
Let thy end be the glory of God in the party's salvation. Do it 
Hot to get a name or esteem to thyself: or to bring men to de- 
pend upon thee : or to get thee many followers ; do not as ma- 
ny parents and masters will do, viz. rebuke their children and 
servants for those sins that displease them, and are against their 
profit or their humours, as disobedience, unthriftiness, unman- 
nerliness ; but never seek in the right way that God hath ap- 
pointed to save their souls. But be sure, the main end be to re- 
cover them from misery, and bring them into the way of eter- 
nal rest. 

2. Do it speedily : as you would not have them deJay their 
return, so do not thou delay to seek their return. You are 
purposing long to speak to such an ignorant neighbour, and to 
deal with such a scandalous sinner, and yet you have never 
done it. Alas, he runs on the score all this while ; he goes 
deeper in debt ; wrath is heaping up ; sin taketh rooting : cus- 
tom doth more fasten him ; engagements to sin grow stronger 
and more numerous ; conscience grows seared ; the heart 
grows hardened : while you delay, the devil rules and rejoic- 
eth ; Christ is shut out ; the Spirit is repulsed ; God is daily dis- 
honoured ; his law is violated ; he is without a servant, and that 
service from him which he should have ; time runs on ; the day 
of visitation hasteth ; death and judgment are at the door : and 
what if the man die and miss of heaven, while you are purposing 
to teach him and help him to it ? If in case of his bodily dis- 
tress, you must not bid him go and come again to-morrow, 
when you have it by you ; how much les3 may you delay the 
succour of his soul ? if once death snatch him away, he is then 
out of the reach of your charity. That physician is no better 
than a murderer, that negligently delayeth till his patient be 
dead or past cure. Delay in duty is a great degree of disobe- 
dience, though you afterwards perform it. It shews an ill 
heart that is indisposed to the work. O how many a poor sin- 
ner perisheth, or grows rooted, and next to incurable in sin, 
while we are purposing to seek their recovery ! Opportunities 
last not always. When thou nearest that the sinner is dead, 
or removed, or grown obstinate ; will not conscience say to 
thee, how knowest thou but thou mightest have prevented the 
damnation of a soul? Lay by excuses then and all lesser busi- 
ness, and obey God's command, * exhort one another daily, 



THE SAINTS EVEJILASTING REST. 155 

while it is called to-day, lest any be hardened through the de- 
ceitfulness of sin.' 

3. Let thy exhortation proceed from compassion and lore, 
and let the manner of it clearly shew the person thou dealest 
with, that it does. It is not jeering, or scorning, or reproach- 
ing a man for his fault, that is a likely way to work his reforma- 
tion : nor is it the right way to convert him to God, to rail at 
him, and villify him with words of disgrace. Men will take 
them for their enemies that thus deal with them : and the 
words of an enemy are little persuading. Lay by your passion 
therefore, and go to poor sinners with tears in your eyes, that 
they may see you indeed believe them to be miserable ; and 
that you unfeignedly pity their case : deal with them with 
earnest humble entreatings. Let them see that your very 
bowels yearn over them, and that it is the very desire of your 
hearts to do them good : let them perceive that you have no oth- 
er end but the procuring their everlasting happiness s and that 
it is your sense of their danger, and your iove to their souls that 
forces you to speak ; even because you know the terrors of the 
Lord, and for fear lest you should see them in eternal torments. 
Say to them, Why, friend, you know it is no advantage of my 
own that 1 seek. The way to please you and to keep your 
friendship, were to soothe you in your own way, or to let you 
alone ; but love will not suffer me to see 3 r ou perish, and be si- 
lent ; I seek nothing at your hands, but that which is necessa- 
ry to your own happiness. Jt is yourself that will have the 
gain and comfort, if you come in to Christ. If men would thus 
go to every ignorant wicked neighbour they have, and thus 
deal with them, O what blessed fruit should we quickly see ! 

I am ashamed to hear some lazy, hypocritical wretches revile 
their poor ignorant neighbours, and separate from their compa- 
ny, and judge them unfit for their society, before ever they 
once tried them with this compassionate exhortation ! O you 
little know what a prevailing course this were like to prove ! 
And how few of the vilest drunkards or swearers would prove 
so obstinate, as wholly to reject or despise the exhortations of 
love ! I know it must be God that must change men's hearts ; 
but I know also that God worketh by means, and when he 
meaneth to prevail with men, he usually fltteth the means ac- 
cordingly, and stirreth up men to plead with them in a prevail- 
ing way, and so setteth in with his grace, and maketh it sue- 



156 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

cessful. Certainly those that have tried can tell you by expe- 
rience, that there is no way so prevailing with men, as the way 
of compassion and love. So much of these as they discern in 
your exhortation, usually so much doth it succeed with their 
hearts : and therefo e I beseech those that are faithful, to prac- 
tise this course. Alas, we see most people among us, yea those 
that would seem godly, cannot bear a reproof that comes not in 
meekness and love ! if there be the least passion, or relish of 
disgrace in it, they are ready to spit in your face. Yea, if you 
do not sweeten your reproof with fair words they cannot digest 
it, but their heart will rise up against you, instead of a thank- 
ful submission and a reformation. O that it were not too evi- 
dent that the Pharisee is yet alive in the breasts of many thou- 
sands that seem religious, even in this one point of bearing 
plain and sharp reproof! ' They bind heavy burdens and griev- 
ous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders ; but they 
themselves will not move them with one of their fingers/ Matt, 
xxiii. 4. So far are they from doing, in this, as they would be 
done by. 

4. Another direction I would give you, is this : do it with all 
possible plainness and faithfulness. Do not dally with men, 
and hide from them their misery or danger, or any part of it. 
Do not make their sins less than they are ; nor speak of them 
in extenuating language. Do not encourage them in a false 
. hope, no more than you would discourage the fond hopes of 
the righteous. If you see his case dangerous, tell him plainly 
of it : JNeighbour, 1 am afraid God hath not yet renewed your 
soul : and that it is yet a stranger to the great work of regen- 
eration and sanctiflcation : I doubt you are not yet recovered 
from the power of Satan to God, nor brought out of the state of 
wrath which you were born in, and have lived in : I doubt you 
have not chosen Christ above all, nor set your heart upon him, 
nor unfeignedly taken him for your sovereign Lord. If you 
had, sure you durst not so easily disobey him i you could not so 
neglect him and his worship in your family and in public : you 
could not so eagerly follow the world, and talk of almost nothing 
but the things of this world, while Christ is seldom mentioned 
by you. If you were in Christ, you would become a new crea- 
ture : old things would be passed away, aod all things would 
become new ; you would have new thoughts, and new talk, 
and new company, and new endeavours, and a new conversa- 



T.HE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 15*7 

toon : certainly without these you can never be saved : you 
may think otherwi>e, and hope better as long as you will, but 
your hopes will deceive you, and perish with you. Alas ! it is 
not as you will, nor as 1 will, who shall be saved, but it is as 
God will; and God hath told us, that • without holiness none 
shall see him :' and ' except we be born again, we cannot en- 
ter into his kingdom.' And ' that all that would not have Christ 
to reign over them, shall be brought forth and destroyed before 
him :' O therefore look to your state in time. 

Thus must you deal roundly and faithfully with men, if ever 
you intend to do them good. It is not hovering at a distance ia 
a general discourse that will serve the turn : it is not in curing 
men's souls, as in curing their bodies, where they must not 
know their danger, lest it sadden them, and hinder the cure. — 
They are here agents in their own cure, and if they know not 
their misery, they will never bewail it, nor know how much 
need they have of a Saviour : if they know not the worst, they 
will not labour to prevent it ; but will sit still or loiter till they 
drop into perdition, and will trifle out their time till it be too 
late : and therefore speak to men, as Christ to the Pharisees, 
till they knew that he meant them. Deal plainly, or you do 
but deceive and destroy them. 

5. And as you must do it plainly, so also seriously, zealously, 
and effectually. The exceeding stupidity and deadness of 
men's hearts is such, that no other dealing will ordinarily work. 
You must call aloud to awake a man in a swoon or lethargy. — 
If you speak to the common sort of men, of the evil of their sin, 
of their need of Christ, of the danger of their souls, and of the 
necessity of regeneration, they will wearily and unwillingly 
give you the hearing, and put off all with a sigh, or a few good 
wishes, and say, God forgive us, we are all sinners, and there is 
an end. If ever you will do them good therefore, you must 
sharpen your exhortation, and set it home, and follow it, till you 
have roused them np, and made them begin to look about them. 
Let them know that thou speakest not to them of indifferent 
things, nor about children's games, or matters of a few days or 
years continuance, nor yet about matters of uncertainty, which 
may never come to pass : but it is about the saving and dam- 
ning of their souls and bodies ; and whether they shall be bless- 
ed with Christ, or tormented with devils, and that for ever and 
ever : it is, how to stand before God in judgment, and what an- 
o 



J58 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

swer to give, and how they are like to speed ; and this judg- 
ment and eternal state they shall very shortly see, they are al- 
most at it ; yet a few more nights and days, and they shall be 
at that last day : a few more breaths they have to breathe, 
and they shall breathe their last ; and then as certainly shall 
they 9ee that mighty change, as the heaven is over their heads, 
and the earth under their feet. O labour to make men know, 
that it is mad jesting about salvation or damnation : and that 
heaven and hell are not matters to be played with, or passed 
over with a few careless thoughts ! It is most certain that one 
of these days thou shalt be either in everlastings unchangeable 
joy or torment ; and doth it not awake thee ? Are there so few 
that find the way of death ? Is it so hard to escape ? so easy to 
miscarry ? And that while we fear nothing, but think all is 
well? And yet you sit still and trifle! Why, what do you 
mean? What do you think on? The world is passing away : 
its pleasures are fading : its honours are leaving you : its pro- 
fits will prove unprofitable to you : heaven or hell are a little be- 
fore you : God is just, aod jealous ; his threatenings are true : 
the great day of his judgment will be terrible : your time runs 
on : your lives are uncertain : you are far behind hand : you 
have loitered long : your case is dangerous : your souls are far 
gone in sin : you are strange to God : you are hardened in evil 
customs : you have no assurance of comfort to shew : if you die 
to-morrow, how unready are you ! Aod with what terror will 
your souls go out of your bodies ! And do you yet loiter? Why, 
consider, God standeth all this while waiting your leisure: his 
patience beareth : his justice forbeareth : his mercy entreat- 
eth you : Christ standeth offering you his blood and merits : 
you may have him freely, and live with him: the Spirit is per* 
suading : conscience is accusing and urging you : ministers 
are praying for you, and calling upon you : Satan stands wait- 
ing when justice will cut off your lives, that he may have you : 
this is your time : now or never. What ! had you rather lose 
heaven than your profits or pleasures ? Had you rather burn in 
hell, than repent on earth ? Had you rather howl and roar 
there, than pray day and night for mercy here ? Or have devils 
your tormentors, than Christ your governor? Will you re- 
nounce your part in God and glory, rather than renounce your 
sins? Do you think a holy life too much for heaven; or too 
dear a course to prevent endless misery ? Oh friends, what dc 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 159 

you think of these things? God hath made you men, and endu- 
ed you with reason : do you renounce your reason where you 
should chiefly use it? In this manner you must deal roundly 
and seriously with men. Alas ! it is not a few dull words be- 
tween jest and earnest, between sleep and waking, as it were, 
that will waken an ignorant dead-hearted sinner. When a 
dull hearer, and a dull speaker meet together, a dead heart 
and a dead exhortation ; it is unlike to have a lively ef- 
fect. If a man fall down in a swoon, you will not stand 
trifling with him, but lay hands on him presently, and snatch 
him up, and rub him, and call aloud to him : if a house be on 
fire, you will not in a cold strain go tell your neighbour of it, 
or make an oration of the nature and danger of fire; but you 
will run out and cry fire, fire : matters of moment must be se- 
riously dealt with. To tell a man of his sins so softly as Eli did 
his sons, or reprove him so gently as Jehosaphat did Ahab, 
' Let not the king say so, 9 doth usually as much harm as good. 
1 am persuaded the very manner of some men's reproof and 
exhortation hath hardened many a sinner in the way of de- 
struction. To tell them of sin, or of heaven or hell, in a dull, 
easy, careless language, doth make men think you are not in 
good earnest ; but scarce think yourselves such things are true. 
O sirs, deal with sin as sin, and speak of heaven and hell as 
they are, and not as if you were in jest. I confess I have failed 
much in this myself, the Lord lay it net to my charge ! Loth- 
ness to displease men, makes us undo them. 

6. Yet lest you run into extremes, 1 advise you to do it with 
discretion. Be as serious as you can ; but yet with wisdom.— 
And especially you must be wise in these things following : 

1 . In choosing the fittest season for your exhortation ; not to 
deal with men when they are in a passion, or where they will 
take it for a disgrace. Men should observe, when sinners are 
fittest to hear instructions. Physic must not be given at all 
times, but in season. It is an excellent example that Paul 
giveth us, Gal. ii. 2. He communicated the gospel to them, 
yet privately to them of reputation, lest he should run in vain. 
Some men would take this to be a sinful complying with their 
corruption, to yield so far to their pride and bashfulness, as to 
teach them only in private, because they would be ashamed to 
own the truth in public ; but Paul knew how great a hinder- 
ance men's reputation is to their entertaining of the truth, and 



1 60 THE SAIfiTTS EVERLASTING REST. 

that the remedy must not only be fitted to the disease, but also to 
the strength of the patient, and that in so doing, the physician is 
uot guilty of favouring the disease, but is praise worthy for 
laking the right way to cure. Means will work easily if you 
take the opportunity ; when the earth is soft, the plough will 
enter. Take a man when he is under affliction, or in the house 
of mourning, or newly stirred by some moving sermon, and 
then set it home, and you may do him some good. Christian 
faithfulness doth require us, not only to do good when it falls 
in our way, but to watch for opportunities. 

2. Be wise also in suiting your exhortation to the quality and 
temper of the person. All meats are not for all stomachs : one 
man will vomit that up which another will digest. 1. If it be a 
learned, or ingenious rational man, you must deal more by 
convincing arguments, and less by passionate persuasions. 2. If 
it be one that is both ignorant and stupid, there is need of both. 
3. If one that is convinced, but not converted, you must use 
most those means that rouse the affections. 4. If they be obsti- 
nate and secure, you must reprove them sharply. 5. If they 
be of timorous, tender natures, they must be tenderly dealt 
with. All cannot bear that rough dealing that some can. — 
Love and plainness, and seriousness take with all : but words 
of terror some can scarce bear. 

3. You must be wise also in using the aptest expressions. — 
Many a minister doth deliver most excellent matter in such 
harsh and unseeming language, that it makes the hearers loath 
the food that they should live by, and laugh at a sermon that 
might make them quake : especially if they be men of curious 
ears, and carnal hearts, and have more wit and parts than the 
speaker. And so it is in private exhortation as well as public : 
if you clothe the most amiable truth in the sordid rags of unbe- 
seeming language, you will make men disdain it, though it be 
the offspring of God, and of the highest nature. 

4. Let all your reproofs and exhortations be backed with the 
authority of God. Let the sinner be convinced that you speak 
not from yourselves, or of your own head. Shew them the 
very words of scripture for what you say : press them with the 
truth and authority of God : ask them, Whether they believe 
that this is his word, and that his word is true. So much of God 
as appeareth in our words, so much will they take. The voice 
of man is contemptible : but the voice of God is awful and ter 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 161 

rible. Be sure therefore to make them know, that you speak 
nothing but what God hath spoken first. 

5. You must also be frequent with men in this duty of ex- 
hortation ; it is not once or twice that usually will prevail. If 
God himself must be constantly solicited, as if importunity 
could prevail with him when nothing else can ; and therefore 
requires us c always to pray and not to faint,' the same course, 
no doubt, will be most prevailing with men. Therefore we are 
commanded, ' to exhort one another daily,' and * with all long 
suffering : the fire is not always brought out of the flint at one 
stroke : nor men's affections kindled at the first exhortation.* 
And if they were, yet if they be not followed, they will soon 
grow cold again. Weary out sinners with your loving and 
earnest entreaties ; follow them, and give them no rest in their 
sin. This is true charity, and this is the way to save men's 
souls ; and a course that will afford you comfort upon a re- 
view. 

6. Strive to bring all your exhortations to an issue ; stick not 
in the work done, but look after the success. 1 have long ob- 
served it in ministers and private men, that if they speak never 
so convincing words, and yet all their care is over when they 
have done their speech, pretending that having done their du- 
ty, they leave the issue to God ; these men seldom prosper in 
their labours : but those whose very heart is set upon the 
work, and that long to see it take for the hearers conversion, 
and use to inquire how it speeds, God usually blesseth their 
labours, though more weak. Labour therefore to drive ail 
your speeches to the desired issue. If you are reproving 
sin, cease not till (if it may be) you have got the sinner to pro- 
mise you to leave it, and to avoid the occasions of it : if you are 
exhorting to a duty, urge the party to promise you presently to 
set upon it. If you would draw them to Christ, leave not, till 
you have made them confess that their present state is misera- 
ble, and not to be rested in : and till they have subscribed to 
the necessity of a change ; and promised you to fall close to 
the use of means. O that all christians would be persuaded to 
take this course with all their neighbours that are yet enslaved 
to sin, and strangers to Christ. 

7. Lastly, Be sure your example exhort as well as your words. 
Let them see you constant in all the duties you persuade them 
to : let them eee in your lives that excellency above the worid, 

o 2 



162 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

which you persuade them to in your speeches. Let them see 
by your constant labours for heaven, that you indeed believe 
what you would have them believe. 

And thus I have opened to you the first and great part of this 
duty, consisting in private exhortation, for the helping of poor 
souls to this rest, that have yet no title to it ; and 1 have shew- 
ed you also the manner how to perform it. I will now speak a 
little of the next part. 

1. Besides the duty of private admonition, you must do your 
utmost endeavours to help men to profit by the public ordinan- 
ces. And to that end, First, do your endeavours for the pro- 
curing of faithful ministers where they are wanting. This is 
God's ordinary means of converting and saving. ' How shall 
they hear without a preacher ?' iNot only for your own sakes 
therefore, but for the poor miserable ones about you, do all you 
can to bring this to pass. Improve all your interest and dili- 
gence to this end. Ride, and go, and seek, and make friends 
till you prevail. Who knoweth how many souls may bless you, 
who have been converted by the ministry which you have pro- 
cured? It is an higher and nobler work of charity, than if you 
gave all that you have to relieve their bodies. 

How small a matter were it (and yet how excellent a work) 
for every gentleman of means in England, to cull out some one 
or two, or more poor boys in the country schools, who are the 
choicest wits, and of the most pious dispositions, who are poor 
and unable to proceed in learning: and to maintain them till 
they are fit for the ministry ? It were but keeping a few super- 
fluous attendants the less, if they had hearts to it, it were easily 
spared out of their rich apparel, or superfluous diet ; I dare 
say, they would not be sorry for it when they come to their 
reckoning: one sumptuous feast, or one costly suit of apparel, 
would maintain a poor boy a year or two at the university, who 
perhaps might come to have more true worth in him, than 
many a glittering lord, and to do God more service in his 
church, than ever they did with all their estates and power. 

2. And when you enjoy the blessing of the gospel, you must 
yet use your utmost diligence to help poor souls to receive the 
fruit of it. To which end you must draw them constantly to 
bear and attend it: mind them often of what they have heard : 
draw tbem if it be possible, to repeat it in their families ; if that 
cannot be, then draw them to come to others that do repeat it; 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST* 163 

that so it may not die in the hearing*. The very drawing" of 
men into the company and acquaintance of the good man, be- 
sides Ihe benefit they have by their endeavours, is of singular 
use to the recovery of their souls. It is a means to take off 
prejudice, by confuting the world's slanders of the ways and 
people of God. Use therefore often to meet together, besides 
the more public meeting in the congregation : not to vent any 
unsound opinions, nor at the time of public worship ; nor yet to 
separate from the church whereof you are members ; but the 
work which I would have you meet about, is this, to repeat 
together the word which you have heard in public ; to pour out 
your joint prayers for the church and yourselves : to join in 
cheerful singing the praises of God ; to open your scruples and 
doubts, and fears, and get resolution ; to quicken each other 
in love and heavenliness, or holy walking : and all this not as 
a separated church, but as a part of the church more diligent 
than the rest in redeeming time, and helping the souls of each 
other heaven-ward. 

3. One thing more 1 advise you ; if you would have souls 
saved by the ordinances, labour still to keep the ordinances 
and ministry in esteem. No man will be much wrought on by 
that wbich he despiseth. I shall confirm you herein, not in my 
own words, but in his that 1 know you dare not disregard, 1 
Thes. v. 11, 12, 13. c Wherefore comfort yourselves together, 
and edify one another, even as ye also do : and we beseech you 
brethren to know them which labour among you, and are over 
you in the Lord, and admonish you, and te esteem them very 
highly in love for their work's sake ; and be at peace amon** 
yourselves.' ■ Obey them that have the rule over you, and sub- 
mit yourselves ; for they watch for your souls, as those that 
must give an account, that they may do it with joy and not with 
grief: for that is unprofitable for you,' Heb. xiii. 17. 

Thus you see part of your duty for the salvation of others. 

But where shall we find the man, that setteth himself to it 
with all his might, and that hath set his heart upon the souls of 
his brethren, that they may be saved ? 

Let us here a little inquire what may be the causes of the 
gross neglect of this duty, that the hinderances being discover- 
ed, may the more easily be overcome. 

1. One hinderance, is, men's own sinfulness and guiltiness. 
They have not been ravished themselves with the heavenly de« 



164 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

lights : how then should they draw others to seek them ? They 
have not felt the wickedness of their own nature, nor their lost 
condition, nor their need of Christ, nor felt the renewing work 
of the Spirit : how then can they discover these to others ? Ah 
that this were not the case of many a learned preacher in Eng- 
land 1 And the cause why they preach so frozenly ! Men also 
are guilty themselves of the sins they should reprove ; and this 
stops their mouths, and maketh them ashamed to reprove. 

2. Another hinderance, is, a secret infidelity prevailing in 
men's hearts : Alas, sirs, we do not sure believe men's misery ; 
we do not believe sure the threatenings of God are true. Did 
we verily believe that all the unregenerate and unholy shall be 
eternally tormented, oh how could we hold our tongues when 
we are among the unregenerate : how could we choose but 
burst out into tears when we look them in the face, as the 
prophet did when he looked upon Hazael ? Especially when 
they are our kindred or friends that are near and dear to us ?— 
Thus doth secret unbelief consume the vigour of each grace 
and duty. Gh christians, if you did verily believe that your 
poor neighbour, or wife, or husband, or child, should certainly 
lie for ever in the flames of hell, except they be thoroughly 
changed, before death doth snatch them hence, would not this 
make you cast off ail discouragements, and lie at them day and 
night till they were persuaded? How could you hold your 
tongue, or let them alone another day, if this were soundly be- 
lieved ? H you were sure that any of your dear friends that are 
dead, were now in hell, and persuading to repentance would 
get him out again, would not you persuade him day and night 
if he were in hearing? And why should you not do as much 
then to prevent it, while he is in your hearing, but that you do 
not believe God's word that speaks the danger? Oh were it 
not for this cursed unbelief, our own souls and our neighbour's 
would gain more by us than they do. 

3. This faithful dealing with men for their salvation, is much 
hindered also by our want of compassion to men's souls. We 
are hard-hearted and cruel toward the miserable ; and there- 
fore (as the priest and the Levite did by the wounded man) we 
look on them and pass by. O what tender hearts could en- 
dure to look upon a poor, blind, forlorn sinner, wounded by sin 
and captivated by Satan, and never once open their mouths for 
his recovery ! What though he he silent, and do not desire thy 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 165 

help? yet his misery cries aloud ; misery is the most effectual 
suiter to one that is compassionate : if God had not heard the 
cry of our miseries before he heard the cry of our prayers, and 
been moved by his own pity, before he was moved by our im- 
portunity, we might have long enough continued the slaves of 
Sa(an. Alas, what pitiful sights do we daily see! The igno- 
rant, the profane, the neglecters of Christ and their souls : their 
seres are open and visible to all : and yet we do not pity them. 
You will pray to God for them, in customary duties, that God 
would open the eyes, and turn the hearts of your friends and 
neighbours ; and why do you not endeavour their conversion if 
you desire it ? and if you do not desire it, why do you *sk it ? 
Doth not your negligence convince you of hypocrisy in your 
prayers, and of abusing the Most High God with your deceitful 
words ? Your neighbours are near you, your friends are in the 
house with you, you eat and drink, and work, and walk, and 
talk with them, and yet you say little or nothing to them. — 
Why do you not pray them to consider and return, as well as 
pray to God to convert and turn them ? Have you as oft beg- 
ged of them to think on their ways, and to reform, as you have 
taken on you to beg of God that they may so do ? What if you 
should see your neighbour fallen into a pit, and you should 
presently fall down on your knees, and pray God to help him 
out, but would neither put forth your hand to help him, nor 
once persuade or direct him to help himself, would not any 
man censure you to be cruel and hypocritical? What the 
Holy Ghost saith of men's bodily miseries, 1 may say much 
more of the misery of their souls ; ' If any man seeth his broth- 
er in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how dwel- 
leth the love of God in him ?' Or what love hath he to his broth- 
er's soul ? The charity of our ignorant forefathers may rise up 
in judgment against us and condemn us : tbey would give all 
their estates almost, for so many masses or pardons, to deliver 
the souls of their friends from a feigned purgatory; and we 
will not as much as admonish and entreat them, to save them 
from the certain flames of hell. 

4. Another hinderance, is, a base man-pleasing disposition 
that is in us. We are so loth to displease men, and so desirous 
to keep in credit and favour with them, that it makes us ne- 
glect our own duty. A foolish physician he is, and a most un- 
faithful friend, that will let a sick man die for fear of troubling 



166 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

him. And cruel wretches are we to our friends that will rath* 
er suffer them to go quickly to hell, than we will anger them, 
or hazard our reputation with them. If they did but fall in a 
swoon, we would rub them and pinch them, and never stick at 
hurting them. If they were distracted, we would bind them 
with chains, and we would please them in nothing that tended 
to their hurt. And yet when they are beside themselves in 
point of salvation, and in their madness posting on to damna- 
tion, we will not stop them, for fear of displeasing them. — 
* How can those men be christians, that love the praise and 
favour of men, more than the favour of God ?' John xii. 43. — 
4 For if they yet seek to please men, they are no longer the 
servants of Christ.' Gal. i. 10. To win them indeed, they must 
become all things to all men ; but to please them to their de- 
struction, and let them perifch, that we may keep our credit 
with them, is a course so base, and barbarously cruel, that he 
that hath the face of a christian, should abhor it. 

5. Another common hinderance, is, a sinful bashfulness.—- 
When we should labour to make men ashamed of their sins, 
we are ourselves ashamed of our duties. May not these sin- 
ners condemn us, when they will not blush to swear or be 
drunk, and we blush to tell them of it, and persuade them from 
it ? Sinners will boast of their sins, and shew them in the open 
streets : and shall not we be as bold in drawing them from sin ? 
Not that I would have inferiors forget their distaoqe in admon- 
ishing their superiors ; but do it with all humility, and submis- 
sion, and respect. But yet I would much less have them forget 
their duty to God and their friends, be they never so much 
their superiors : it is a thing that must be done. Bashfulness 
is unseemly in cases of flat necessity. And indeed it is not 
a work to be ashamed of ; to obey God in persuading men from 
their sins to Christ, and helping to save their souls, is not a 
business for a man to blush at. Yet, alas, what abundance of 
souls have been neglected through the prevailing of this sin ! 
Even the most of us are heinously guilty in this point. Read- 
er ! is not this thy own case? Hath not thy conscience told 
thee of thy duty many a time, and put thee on to speak to poor 
sinners, lest they perish ? And yet thou hast been ashamed to 
open thy mouth to them, and so let them alone to sink or swim ; 
believe me, thou wilt ere long be ashamed of this shame : O 
road those words of Christ, acid tremble : * He that is ashamed 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 167 

of me and my words, before this adulterous generation, of him 
will the Son of Man be ashamed before his Father and the 
angels.' 

6. With many also pride is a great impediment. If it were 
to speak to a great man, they would do it, so it would not 
displease him. But to go among a company of ignorant beg- 
gars, or mean persons, and to sit with them in a smoky, nasty 
cottage, and there to exhort them from day today ; where ia 
the person that will do it ? Many will much rejoiceif they have 
been instruments of converting a gentleman, (and they have 
good cause) but for the common multitude, they look not after 
them : as if God were a respecter of t he persons of the rich, or 
the souls of all were not alike to him. Alas, these men little 
consider how low Christ did stoop to us! When the God of 
glory comes down in flesh to worms, and goeth preaching up 
and down among them from city to city. Not the silliest 
women that he thought too low to confer with : few rich, and 
noble, and wise, are called. It is the poor that receive the glad 
tidings of the gospel. 

Object. O but, saith one, 1 am of so weak part3, that I am 
unable to manage an exhortation ; especially to men of strong 
parts and understanding. 

I answer , 1. Set those upon the work who are more able.— 
2. Yet do not think that thou art so excused thyself, but use 
faithfully that ability which thou hast ; not in teaching those of 
whom thou shouldst learn, but in instructing those that are 
more ignorant than thyself, and in exhorting those that are 
negligent in the things which they do know. If you cannot 
speak well yourself, yet you can tell them what God speaketh 
in his word. It is not the excellency of speech that winneth 
the souls ; but the authority of God manifested by that speech, 
and the power of his word in the mouth of the instructor. A 
weak woman may tell what God saith in the plain passages of 
the word, as well as a learned man. If you cannot preach to 
them, yet you can say, Thus it is written. One of mean parts 
may remember the wisest of their duty when they forget it. 

Object. It is my superior : and is it fit for me to teach or re- 
prove my betters ? fViust the wife teach the husband, of whom 
the scripture biddeth them to learn ? Or must the child teach 
the parents, whose duty it is to teach them f 



168 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

I answer ', 1. It is fit that husbands should be able to teach 
their wives, and parents to teach their children ; and God ex- 
pecteth they should be *>o, and therefore commandeth the infe- 
riors to learn of them. But if they, through their negligence, 
disable themselves, or through their wickedness bring their 
souls mto such misery, then it is themselves, and not you, that 
break Go is order by bringing themselves into disability and 
misery. 

Matter of mere orders and manners must be dispensed with 
in cases of flat necessity. Though it were your minister, you 
must teach him in such a case. It is the part of parents to pro- 
vide for their children, and not children for their parents : and 
yet if the parents fall into want, must not the children relieve 
them ? It is he part of the husband to dispose of the affairs of 
the family and estate : and yet if he be sick, or beside himself, 
inust not the wife do it? The rich should relieve the poor : but 
if the rich fall into beggary, they must be relieved themselves. 
It is the work of a physician to look to the health of others : 
and yet if he fall sick, somebody must help him. So must the 
meanest servant admonish his master, and the child his parent, 
and the wile her husband, and the people their ministers, in 
cases of necessity. Yet secondly, let me give you these two 
cautions here. 

1. That you do not pretend necessity when there is none, 
out of a mere desire of teaching. There is scarce a more 
certain discovery of a proud heart, than to be more desirous to 
teach, than to learn ; especially toward those that are fitter to 
teach us. 

2. And when the necessity of your superiors doth call for 
your advice, yet do it with all possible humility, modesty and 
meekness. Let them discern your reverence and submission 
in the humble manner of your addresses to them. Let them 
perceive that you do it not out of a mere teaching humour, or 
proud self conceitedness. If a wife should tell her husband of 
sin in a masterly railing manner; or if a servant reprove his 
master, or a child his father, in a saucy way, what good could 
be expected from such reproof? But if they should meekly and 
humbly open to him his sin and danger, and entreat him to bear 
with them in what God commandeth, and if they could by tears 
testify their sense of his case j what father, or master, or hus- 
band could take this ill ? 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 169 

Object. But some may say, this will make all as preachers, 
and cause all to break over the bounds of their callings. 

I answer, 1. This is not taking a pastoral charge of souls, nor 
making an office or callkjg of it, as preachers do. 

2. And in the way of our callings, every good christian is a 
teacher, and hath a charge of his neighbour's soul. Let it be 
only the voice of a Cain to say, ' Am 1 my brother's keeper?' 
I would one of these men, that are so loth that private men 
should teach them, to tell me, what if a man fall down in a 
swoon in the streets, though it be your father or superior, 
wouid you not take him up presently, and use all means to re- 
cover him ? Or would you let him lie and die, and say, it is the 
work of the physician, and not mine : 1 will not invade the 
physician's calling. Iu two cases, every man is a physician ; 
first, in case of necessity, and when a physician cannot be had : 
and secondly, in case the hurt be 60 small, that every man can 
do as well as the physician. And in the same two cases every 
man must be a teacher. 

Object. Some will further object to put off this duty, that 
(he party is so ignorant, or stupid, or careless, or rooted in sin, 
and hath been so oft exhorted in vain, that there is no hope. 

I answer. How know you when there is no hope? Cannot 
God yet cure him ? And have not many as far gone, been 
cured? Should not a merciful physician use means while there 
is life? and is it n >t inhuman cruelty in you to give up your 
friend to the devil as hopeless, upon mere backwardness to 
your duty, or upon groundless discouragements ? What if you 
had been so given up yourself when you were ignorant? 

Object. But * we must not cast pearls before swine, nor give 
that which is holy to dogs.' 

1 answer, That is but a favourable dispensation of Christ for 
your own safety. When you are in danger of being torn in 
pieces, Christ would have you forbear ; but what is that to you, 
that are in no such danger ? As long as they will hear, you have 
encouragement to speak, and may not cast them off as con- 
temptuous swine. 

Object. O but it is a friend that I have all my dependence 
on ; and by telling him of his sin and misery, 1 may lose his 
love, and so be undone. 

I answer, Sure no man that hath the face of a christian, will 
for shame own such an objection as this. Yet, I doubt, it oft 
p 



170 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

prevaileth in the heart. Is his love more to be valued than Bis 
safety? Or thy own benefit by him than the salvation of his 
soul ? Or wilt thou connive at his damnation, because he is thy 
friend ? Is that thy best requital of his friendship ? Hadst thou 
rather he should burn for ever in hell, than thou shouldst lose 
his favour, or the maintenance thou hast from him ? 

To conclude this use, that I may prevail with every soul that 
feareth God, to use their utmost diligence to help all about 
them to this blessed rest, let me entreat you to consider these 
following" motives : 

1. Consider, nature teacheth the communicating of good, 
and grace doth especially dispose the soul thereto ; the neglect 
therefore of this work, is a sin both against nature and grace. 

Would you not think that man or woman unnatural, that 
would let their children or neighbours famish in the streets, 
while they have provision at hand ? iVnd is not he more unnat- 
ural, that will let his children or neighbours perish eternally, 
and will not open his mouth to save them ? Certainly this is 
most barbarous cruelty. We account an unmerciful, cruel 
man, a very monster, to be abhorred of all. Many vicious men 
are too much loved in the world, but a cruel man is abhorred 
of all. Now that it may appear to you what a cruel thing this 
neglectof souls is, do but consider these two things. First, 
how great a work it is. Secondly, how small a matter it is 
that thou refusest to do for the accomplishing so great a work. 
First, it is to save thy brother from eternal flames, that he ma}' 
not there lie roaring in endless remediless torments. It is to 
bring him to the everlasting rest where he may live in incon- 
ceivable happiness with God. Secondly, and what is it that you 
should do to help him herein ? Why, it is to persuade him, and 
lay open to him his sin, and his duty, his misery, and the reme- 
dy, till you have made him willing to yield to the offers and 
commands of Christ. And is this so great a matter far to do, 
to the attaining such a blessed end ? Is not the soul of a hus- 
band, or wife, or child, or neighbour, worth a few words ? It is 
worth this or it is worth nothing. If they lay dving in the 
streets, and a few words would save their lives, would not eve- 
ry man say, he was a cruel wretch that would let them perish 
rather than speak to them ? Even the covetous hypocrite, that 
Jvmos reproveth, would give a (ew words to the poor, and say, 
« Go and be warmed and be clothed.' What a barbarous, un- 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 171 

merciful wretch then art thou, that wilt Dot vouchsafe a few 
words of serious, sober admonition, to save the soul of thy 
neighbour or friend ? Cruelty and unmercifulness to men's 
bodies, is a most damnable sin ; but to their souls much more, 
as the soul is of greater worth than the body, and as eternity is' 
' of greater moment than this short time. 

Alas! you do not see or feel what case their souls are in 
when they are in hell, for want of your faithful admonition. — - 
Little know you what many a soul may now be feeling, who 
have been your neighbours and acquaintance, and died in their 
sins, on whom you never bestowed one hour's sober advice for 
preventing their unhappiness. If you knew their misery, you, 
would now do more to bring them out of hell; but, alas! it is too 
late, you should have done it while they were with you ; it is 
now too late. As one said of physicians, " That they were the 
most happy men, because all their good deeds and cures were 
seen above ground to their praise, but all their mistakes and 
neglects were buried out of sight." So 1 may say to you, ma- 
ny a neglect of yours to the souls about you, may be now buri* 
ed with those souls in heli, out of your sight, and therefore 
cow it doth not much trouble you ; but, alas ! they feel it, 
though you feel it not. Jeremiah cried out,' ' My bowels, my 
bowels, I cannot hold my peace,' because of a temporal de- 
struction of his people : and do not our bowels yearn? And 
can we hold our peace at men's eternal destruction r 

2. Consider, What a rate Christ did value souls at, and what 
he hath done towards the saving of them : he thought them 
worth his blood, and shall not we think them worth the breath 
of our mouths ? Willyou net do a little, where he hath done so 
much ? 

3. Consider what a deal of guilt this neglect doth lay upon 
thy soul. First, thou art guilty of the murder and damnation 

# of all those souls whom thou dost neglect. He that standeth by, 
and seeth a man in a pit and will not pull him out if he can, 
doth drown him. And he that standeth by, while thieves rob 
him, or murderers kill him, and will not help him if be can, is 
accessary to the fact. And so he that will silently suffer men 
to damn their souls, or will let Satan and the world deceive 
them, and not offer to help them, will certainly be judged 
guilty of damning them. And is not this a most dreadful con- 
sideration ? O sirs, how many souls then have every one of us 



172 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

been guilty of damning ! what a number of our neighbours and 
acquaintance are dead, in whom we discerned no signs of sanc- 
tification, and we never once plainly told them of it, or how to 
be recovered! Jf you had been the cause but of burning a 
man's house through your negligence, or of undoing him, or 
destroying his body, how would it trouble you as long as you 
lived ? If you had but killed a man unadvisedly, it would much 
disquiet you. We have known those that have been guilty of 
murder, that could never sleep quietly after, nor have one com- 
fortable day, their own consciences did so vex and torment 
them. O what a heart must thou have, that hast been guilty of 
murdering such a multitude of precious souls ! Remember this, 
when thou lookest thy friend or carnal neighbour in the face ; 
and think with thyself, can 1 find in my heart, through my si- 
lence and negligence, to be guilty of his everlasting burning in 
hell ? Methinks such a thought should even untie the tongue of 
the dumb. 

2. And as you are guilty of their perishing, so are you of ev- 
ery sin which in the mean time they commit. If they were 
converted, they would break off their course of sinning : and if 
you did your duty, you know not but they might be converted. 
As he that is guilty of a man's drunkenness, is guilty of all the 
sins which that drunkenness doth cause him to commit : so he 
that is guilty of a man's continuing unregenerate, is also guilty 
of the sins of his unregeneracy. How many curses and oaths, 
and other sins of a most heinous nature are many of you guilty 
of, that little think of it? You that take much pains for your 
own souls, and seem fearful of sinning, would take it ill of one 
that should tell you, that you are guilty of weekly, or daily 
whoredoms, and drunkenness, and swearing, and lying. And 
yet it is too true, even beyond all denial, by your neglect of 
helping those who do commit them. 

3. You are guilty also of all those judgments which those 
men's sins bring upon the town or country where they live, l 
know you are not such atheists, but you believe it is God that 
sendeth sickness, and famine, and war : and also that it is only 
sin that moveth him to this indignation. What doubt then is 
there, but you are the cause of judgments, who do not strive 
against those sins which cause them ? God hath staid long in 
patience, to see if any would deal plainly with the sinners of the 
times, and so free their own souls from the guilt : but when he 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 173 

seeth that there is none, but all become guilty, no wonder then 
if he lay the judgment upon all. We have all seen the drunk- 
ards, and heard the swearers in our streets, and we would not 
speak to them : we have all lived in the midst of an ignorant, 
worldly, unholy people ; and we have not spoke to them with 
earnestness, plainness, and love ; no wonder then if God speak 
in his wrath, both to them and us. Eli did not commit the sin 
himself, and yet he speaketh so coldly against it, that he must 
bear the punishment. God locketh up the clouds, because we 
have shut up our mouths. The earth is grown as hard as iron 
to us, because we have hardened our hearts against our miser- 
able neighbours. The cries of the poor for bread are loud, be* 
cause our cries against sin have been so low. Sicknesses run 
apace from house to house, and sweep away the poor unprepa- 
red inhabitants, because we swept not out the sin that breed- 
eth them. As Christ said in another case, Luke xix. 30. ' If 
these should hold their peace, the stones would speak:' so, be- 
cause we held our peace at the ignorance, ungodliness, and 
wickedness of our places, therefore do these plagues and judg- 
ments speak. 

4. Consider, What a thing it will be, to look upon your poor 
friends in those flames, and to think that your neglect was a 
great cause of it ! And that there was a time when you might 
have done much to prevent it. If you should there perish with 
them, it would be no small aggravation of your torment ! If you 
be in heaven, it would sure be a sad thought, were it possible 
that any sorrow could dwell there, to hear a multitude of poor 
souls, there to cry out for ever: O if you would but have told 
me plainly of my sin and danger, and dealt roundly with me, I 
might have escaped all this torment, and been now in rest ! O 
what a sad voice will this be ! 

5. Consider, How diligent are the enemies of these poor 
souls to draw them to hell. And if no body be diligent in help- 
ing them to heaven, what is like to become of them? The devil 
is tempting them day and night: their inward lusts are still 
working and withdrawing them : the flesh is still pleading for 
its delight3 and profits : their old companions are ready to en- 
tice them to, sin, and to disgrace God's ways and people to 
them, and to contradict the doctrine of Christ that should save 
them, and to increase their dislike of holiness. Seduciog 
teachers are exceeding diligent in sowing tares, and ia draw- 

? 2 



174 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

ing off the unstable from the way to life : and shall a seducer 
be so unwearied in proselyting poor unguarded souls to his fan- 
cies ? And shall not a sound christian be much more unwearied 
in labouring to win men to Christ and life ? 

6. Consider, The neglect of this doth very deeply wound 
when conscience is awakened. When a man comes to die, 
conscience will ask him, What good hast thou done in thy life- 
time? The saving of souls is the greatest good; What hast 
thou done towards this ? How many hast thou dealt faithfully 
with? I have oft observed, that the consciences of dying men 
very much wound them fop this omission. For my own part, (to 
tell you my experience) whenever I have been near death, 
my conscience hath accused me more for this than for any sin : 
it would bring every ignorant, profane neighbour to my re- 
membrance, to whom 1 never made known their danger: it 
would tell me, thou shouldst have gone to them in private, and 
toid them plainly of their desperate danger, without bashful- 
ness, or daubing, though it had been when thou shouldst have 
eaten or slept, if thou hadst no other time : conscience would 
remember me, how at such a time, or such a time, I was in 
company with the ignorant, or was riding by the way with a 
wilful sinner, and had a fit opportunity to have dealt with him, 
but did not; or at least did it by halves, and to little purpose. 
The Lord grant 1 may better obey conscience hereafter while 
1 live and have time, that it may have less to accuse me of at 
death ! 

7. Consider, lastly, the happy consequences of this work, 
"where it is faithfully done : to name some : 

1. You may be instrumental in that blessed work of saving 
souls, a work that Christ came down and died for, a work that 
the angels of God rejoice in : for, saith the Holy Ghost, ' If 
any of you do err from the truth, and one convert bim, let him 
know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of 
his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multi- 
tude of sins,' James v. 19, 20. And how can God more highly 
honour you, than to make you instruments in so great a work ? 

2. Such souls will bless you here and hereafter. They may 
be angry with you at first; but if your words succeed, they 
will bless the day that ever they knew you, and bless God that 
sent you to speak to them. 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 175 

3. It bringeth much advantage to yourselves : first, it will 
increase your graces both as it is a course that God will bless, 
and as it is an acting of them in this persuading of others : he 
that will not let you lose a cup of water which is given for him, 
will not let you lose these greater works of charity ; besides, 
those that have practised this duty, must find by experience, 
that they never go on more prosperously towards heaven, than 
when they do most to help others thither with them : it is not 
here as with worldly treasure, the more you give away, the 
less you have : but the more you give, the more you have : the 
setting forth Christ in his fulness to others, will warm your 
own hearts ; the opening the evil and danger of sin to others, 
will increase your hatred of it. Secondly, it will increase your 
glory as well as your grace, both as a duty which God will re- 
ward j ( 4 For they that convert many to righteousness shall 
shine as the stars for ever and ever.') Dan. xii. 3. and also as 
we shall there behold them in heaven, and be their associates 
in blessedness, whom God made us here the instruments to 
convert. Thirdly, however, it will give as much peace of con- 
science, whether we succeed or not, to think that we were 
faithful, and did our best to save them, and that we are clear 
from the blood of all men. Fourthly, besides, that is a work, 
that if it succeed, doth exceedingly rejoice an honest heart : he 
that hath any sense of God's honour, or the least affection to 
the soul of his brother, must needs rejoice much at his conver- 
sion, whosoever be the instrument, but especially when God 
maketh ourselves the means of so blessed a work. 

For my own part, it is an unspeakable comfort to me, that 
God hath made me an instrument for the recovering of so ma- 
ny from bodily diseases, and saving their natural lives : but all 
this is nothing to the comfort 1 have in the success of my la- 
bours, in the conversion and confirmation of souls; it is so 
great a joy to me, that it drowneth the painfulness of my daily 
duties, and the trouble of my daily languishing and bodily 
griefs. And maketh all these, with all oppositions and difficul- 
ties in my work, to be easy : and of all the personal mercies 
that ever I received, next to his love in Christ to my soul, I 
most joyfully bless him for the plenteous success of my en- 
deavours upon others : O what fruits then might I have seen, 
if I had been more faithful, and plied the work in private and 
public as I ought ! I know we have need to be very jealous of 



i76 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

our deceitful hearts in this point, lest our rejoicing should come 
from our pride. Naturally, we would every man be in the 
place of God, and have the praise of every good work ascribed 
to ourselves : but yet to imitate our Father in goodness, and to 
rejoice in that degree we attain to, is the part of every child of 
God. 1 tell you therefore, to persuade you from my own ex- 
perience, that if you did but know what a joyful thing it is to 
be an instrument for the saving of souls, you would set upon it 
presently, and follow it night and day through the greatest dis- 
couragements and resistance. 

And thus 1 have shewed you what should persuade you to 
this duty. Let me now conclude with a word of entreaty i 
first, to all the godly in general. Secondly, to some above 
others in particular. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

AN ADVICE TO SOME MORE PARTICULARLY, TO HELP OTHERS 
TO THIS REST. 

Up then every man that hath a tongue, and is a servant of 
Christ, and do something of this your master's work : Why 
hath he given you a tongue, but to speak in his service ? And 
bow can you serve him more eminently, than in the saving of 
souis? He that will pronounce you blessed at the last day, and 
sentence you to the kingdom prepared for you, because you 
fed him, and clothed him, and visited him in his members, will 
surely pronounce you blessed for so great a work as the bring- 
ing over of souls to his kingdom. He that saith, * The poor 
you have always with you,' hath left the ungodly always with 
you, that you might still have matter to exercise your charity 
upon. O if you have the hearts of Christians, or of men in 
you, let them yearn towards your poor, ignorant, ungodly 
neighbours ! Alas, there is but a step betwixt them, and death 
and hell ; many hundred diseases are waiting ready to seize 
them, and if they die unregenerate, they are lost for ever. — 
Have you hearts of rock, that cannot pity men in such a case ? 
If you believe not the word of God, how are you Christians 
yourselves ? If you do but believe it, why do you not bestir you 
to help others? Do you not care who is damned, so you be 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 1T7 

saved? If so, you have as much cause to pity your ownselves ; 
for it is a frame of spirit inconsistent with grace: should you 
not rather say, as the lepers of Samaria, is it not a day of glad 
tidings, and we sit still and hold our peace ? Hath God had so 
much mercy on you, and will you have no mercy on your poor 
neighbours ? You need not go far to find objects for your pity s 
look but into the streets, or into the next house to you, and you 
will probably find some. Have you not a neighbour that sets 
his heart below, and neglecteth eternity ? What blessed place 
do you live in, where there is none such ? If there be not some 
of them in thine own family, it is well ; and yet art thou silent ? 
Dost thou live close by them, or meet them in the streets, or 
labour with them, or travel with them, or sit still and talk with 
them, and say nothing to them of their souls, or the life to 
come ? If their houses were on fire, thou wouldst run and help 
them : and wilt thou not help them when their souls are almost 
at the fire of hell ? If thou knowest but a remedy for their dis- 
eases thou wouldst tell it them, or else thou wouldst judge thy- 
self guilty of their death. Cardan speaks of one that had a re- 
ceipt that would dissolve the stone in the bladder, and he 
makes no doubt but that man is in hell, because he never re- 
vealed it to any before he died : what shall we say then of them 
that know the remedy for curing souls, and do not reveal it ; 
nor persuade men to make use of it ? Is it not hypocrisy to pray 
* that God's name may be hallowed,' and never endeavour to 
bring men to hallow it ? And can you pray, ' Let thy kingdom 
come ;' and yet never labour for the coming or increase of that 
kingdom ? Is it not grief to your hearts to see the kingdom of 
Satan flourish, and to see him lead captive such a multitude of 
souls? You say you are soldiers of Christ: and will you do 
^ nothing against his prevailing enemies ? You pray also' daily, 
4 That his will may be done ;' and should you not daily then 
persuade men to do it ? You pray, ' That God would forgive 
them their sins, and that he would not lead them into tempta- 
tion, but deliver them from evil.' And yet will you not help 
them against temptations, nor help to deliver them from the 
greatest evil ? Nor help them to repent and believe, that they 
may be forgiven ? Alas, that your prayers and your practice 
should so much disagree ! Look about you therefore, christians, 
with an eye of compassion on the sinners about you ; be not 
like the priest or Levite that saw the man wounded, and passed 



178 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

by : God did not so pass by you, when it was your own case.—* 
Are not the souls of your neighbours fallen into the hands of Sa- 
tau ? Doth not tneir misery cry out to you, help, help ! As you 
have any compassion towards men iu the greatest misery, help I 
As you have the hearts of men and not of tygers in you, help ! 

But as this duty lieth upon alt in general, so upon some more 
especially, according as God hath called or qualified them 
thereto. To them, therefore, more particularly, 1 will address 
my exhortation : wh other they be such as have more opportu- 
nity and advantages for this work, or such as have better abil- 
ities to perform it. 

1. All you that God hath given more learning and knowledge 
to, or p-ndued with better utterance than your neighbours ; God 
expecteth this duty especially at your hand. The strong are 
made to help the weak, and those that see, must direct the 
blind. God looketh for this faithful improvement of your parts 
and gifts, which, if you neglect, it were better for you that you 
never had received them : for they will but further your con- 
demnation, and be as useless to your own salvation as they are 
to others. 

2. All those that have especially familiarity with some ungod- 
ly men, and that have interest in them, God looks for this duty 
at their hands. Christ himself did eat and drink with the pub- 
licans and sinners, but it was only to be their physician, and 
not their companion. God might give you interest in them to 
this end, that you might be a means of their recovery. They 
that will not regard the words of another, will regard a brother, 
or sister, or husband, or wife, or near friend : besides that, the 
bond of friendship doth engage you to more kindness and com- 
passion. 

3. Physicians that are much about dying men, should in affe 
special manner make a conscience of this duty : they have a 
treble advantage. First, they are at hand. Secondly, they 
are with men in sickness and dangers, when the ear is more 
open, and the heart less stubborn than in time of health. He 
that made a scorn of godliness before, will hear counsel then, if 
ever he will hear it. Thirdly, besides, they look upon their 
physician as a man in whose hand is their life : or who at least 
may do much to save them, and therefore they will the more 
regard his advice. Therefore you that are of this honourable 
profession, do not think this a work beside your calling", as if it 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 179 

belonged to none but ministers : except you think it beside 
your calling to be compassionate, or to be christians. Help to 
fit your patients for heaven, and whether you see they are for 
life or death, teach th^rn both how to live and how to die, and 
give them some physic for their souls, as you do for their 
bodies. Blessed be God that very many of the chief physicians 
of this age, have by their eminent piety, vindicated their pro- 
fession from the common imputation of atheism and profane- 
ness. 

4. Another sort that have excellent advantage.for this duty, 
are men that have wealth and authority, and are of great place 
or command in the world, especially that have many who live 
in dependence on them, O what a world of good might gen- 
tlemen and lords do, that have a great many tenants, and that 
are the leaders of the country, if they had but hearts to im- 
prove their interest and advantage ! Little do you that are 
such, think of the duty that lies upon you in this. Have you 
not all honour and riches from God ? Is it not evident then, 
that you must employ them for the advantage of his service ? 
Do you not know who hath said, * That tq whom men commit 
much, from them they will expect the more?' 

You have the greatest opportunities to do good, of most men 
in the world. Your tenants dare not contradict you, lest you 
dispossess them or their children of their habitations : they fear 
you more than the threatenings of the scriptures ; they will 
sooner obey you than God. If you speak to them of God and 
their souls, you may be regarded, when even a minister shall 
be despised. O therefore as you value the honour of God, your 
own comfort, and the salvation of souls, improve your interest 
to the utmost for God. Go visit your tenants' and neighbours' 
bouses, and see whether they worship God in their families, 
and take all opportunities to press them to their duties. Do 
not despise them, because tbey are poor or simple. Remem- 
ber, God is no respecter of persons ; your flesh is of no better 
metal than theirs: nor will the worms spare your faces or 
hearts any more than theirs : nor will your bones or dust bear 
the badge of your gentility ; you must be all equals when you 
stand in judgment ; and therefore help the soul of a poor man, 
as well as if he were a gentleman: and let men see that you 
excel others as much in piety, heavenliness, compassion and 
diligence in God's work, as you do in riches and honour. 



180 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

1 confess you are like to be singular if you take this course ; 
but then remember, you shall be singular in glory, for 4 feTV 
great, and mighty, and noble are called.' 

5. Another sort that have special opportunity to help others 
to heaven, are the ministers of the gospel : as they have, or 
should have more ability than others, so it is the very work of 
their calling ; and every one expecteth it at their hands, and 
will better submit to their teachers than to others. I intend 
not these instructions so much to teachers, as to others, and 
therefore 1 shall say but little to them ; and if all, or most min- 
isters among us were as faithful and diligent as some, I would 
say nothing. But because it is otherwise, let me give these 
two or three words of 2dvice to my brethren in this office. 

I. Be sure that the recovering and saving souls, be the main 
end of your studies and preaching. O do not propound any 
low and base ends to yourselves. This is the end of your call- 
ing, let it be also the end of your endeavours. God forbid that 
you should spend a week's study to please the people, or to 
seek the advancing your own reputations. Dare you appear 
in the pulpit on such a business, and speak for yourselves, 
when you are sent and pretend to speak for Christ ? Set out 
the work of God as skilfully as you can ; but still let the win- 
ning of souls be your end, and always judge that the best 
means, that most conduceth to the end. Do not think that 
God is best served by a neat, starched oration : but that he is 
the able, skilful minister, that is best skilled in the art of in- 
structing, convincing, persuading, and that is the best sermon 
that is best in these. Let the vigour also of your persuasions 
shew that you are sensible on how weighty a busine-s you are 
sent. Preach with that seriousness and fervour as men that 
believe their own doctrine, and know their hearers must either 
be prevailed with or be damned. What you would do to save 
them from everlasting burning, that do while you have the op- 
portunity, and price in your hand, that people may discern you 
mean as you speak ; and that you are not stage-players, but 
preachers of the doctrine of salvation. Remember what Cice- 
ro saith, 'That if the matter be never so combustible, yet if 
you put not fire to it, it will not burn." And what Erasmus 
saith, "That an hot iron will pierce, when a cold one will 
not." And if the wise men of the world account you mad, say 
as Paul, 'if we are beside ourselves, it is to God :' and remem- 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 181 

ber that Christ was so busy in doing of good, that his friends 
themselves began to lay hands on him, thinking" he had been 
beside himself, Mark iii. 

2. The second and chief word of advice that I would give 
you, is this : do not think that all your work is in studies, and 
in the pulpit. I confess that is great ; but, alas ! it is but a 
small part of your task. You are shepherds, and must know 
every sheep, and what is their disease, and mark their stray- 
ings, and help to cure them, and fetch them home. 

O learn of Paul, Acts xx. 19, 20, 31. to preach publicly, and 
from house to house, night and day with tears. Let there not 
be a soul in your charge that shall not be particularly instruct- 
ed and watched over. Go from house to house daily, and in- 
quire how they grow in knowledge and holiness, and on what 
grounds they build their hopes of salvation ; and whether they 
walk uprightly and perform the duties of their several rela- 
tions, and use the means to increase their abilities. See 
whether they daily worship God in their families, and set them 
in a way, and teach them how to do it : confer with them about 
the doctrines and practice of religion, and how they receive 
and profit by public teaching, and answer all their carnal ob- 
jections ; keep in familiarity with them, that you may maintain 
your interest in them, and improve all your interest for God. 
See that no seducers creep in amongst them, or if they do, be 
diligent to countermine them, and preserve your people from 
the infection of heresies and schisms ; or if they be infected, 
be diligent to procure their recovery ; not with passion and 
lordliness, but with patience and condescension : as Masculus 
did by the Anabaptists, visiting them in prison, where the 
magistrate had cast them, and there instructing and relieving 
them ; and though they reviled him when he came, and called 
him a false prophet and antichristian seducer that thirsted for 
their blood, yet he would not so leave them, till at last by his 
meekness and love he had overcome them, and recovered ma- 
ny to the truth, and to unity with the church. 

If any be 'weak in the faith, receive him, but not to doubt- 
ful disputation.' If any be too careless of their duties, and 
too little savour the things of the Spirit, let them be pitied, and 
not neglected : if any walk scandalously and disorderly, deal 
with them for their recovery, with all diligence and patience, 
and set before them the heinousness and danger of their sin : ?f 
3 



18£ THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

they prove obstinate, after all, then avoid them, and cast them 
off: if they be ignorant, it may be your fault as well as theirs ; 
but however, they are fitter to be instructed than rejected, ex- 
cept they absolutely refuse to be taught. Christ will give you 
no thanks for keeping, or putting out such from his school that 
are unlearned, when their desire or will is to be taught, i 
confess it is easier to shut out the ignorant, than to bestow our 
pains night and day in teaching them ; but wo to such slothful, 
unfaithful servants. Who then is a faithful and a wise ser- 
vant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to 
give them their meat in due season, according to every one's 
age and capacity ? 4 Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, 
when he cometh, shall find so doing.' O be not asleep while 
the wolf is waking! Let your eye be quick in observing the 
dangers and strayings of your people. If jealousies, heart- 
burnings, or contentions arise among them, quench them be- 
fore they breakout into raging, irresistible flames. As soon 
as you discern any to turn worldly, or proud, or factious, or 
self-conceited, or disobedient, or cold, and slothful in his duty : 
delay not, but presently make out for his recovery : remember 
bow many are losers in the loss of a soul. 

3. Do not daub, or deal slightly with any ; some will not tell 
their people plainly of their sins, because they are great men ; 
as if none but the poor should plainly be dealt with : do not you 
so, but reprove them sharply, (though differently and with wis- 
dom) that they may be sound in faith. God doth sufficiently 
engage us to deal plainly ; he hath bid us speak and fear not : 
he bath promised to stand by us ; and he will be our security/ 
1 had rather hear from the mouth of Balak, ■ God hath kept 
thee from honour ;' or from Ahab, ' feed him with the bread and 
water of affliction;' than to hear conscience say, Thou hast be- 
trayed souls to damnation by thy cowardice and silence; or to 
hear God say, * Their blood will I require at thy hands :' or to 
hear from Christ, the judge, c Cast the unprofitable servant in- 
to outer darkness, where shall be weeping and gnashing of 
teeth;' yea; or to hear these sinners cry out against me in 
eternal fire, and with implacable rage to charge me with their 
undoing. 

And as you must be plain and serious, so labour to be skilful 
and discreet, that the manner may somewhat answer the ex- 
cellency of the matter. How oft have I heard a stammering 



THE SAfNTS EVERLASTING REST. 183 

tongue, with ridiculous expressions, vain repetitions, tedious 
circumlocutions, and unseemly pronunciation, spoil most pre- 
cious doctrine, and make the hearers either loath it, or laugh at 
it ! How common are these extremes, while one spoils the food 
of life by affectation, and new-fashioned mincing, and pedantic 
toys, either setting forth a little and mean matter with a great 
deal of froth, and guady dressing ; or hiding excellent truths 
in a heap of vain rhetoric on the other side ! How many by 
their slovenly dressing make men loath the food of life, and 
cast up that which should nourish them ! Such novices are ad- 
mitted into the sacred function, to the hardening of the wick- 
ed, and the disgrace of the work of the Lord ; and those that 
are not able to speak sense or reason, are rnaje the ambassa* 
dors of the Most High God. 

O, therefore, let me beseech you, my brethren, in the name 
of the Lord, especially those that are more young and weak, 
that you tremble at the greatness of this holy employment, and 
run not up into a pulpit as boldly as into the market-place s 
study and pray, pray and study, till you are become workmen 
that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, 
that your people may not be ashamed or weary to hear you : 
but that besides your clear unfolding the doctrine of the gos- 
pel, you may also be masters of your people's affections. It 
is a work that requireth your most serious searching thoughts j 
running, hasty, easy studies, bring forth blind births. When 
you are the most renowned doctors in the church of God, alas, 
how little is it that you know, in comparison of all that which 
you are ignorant of! 

4. Be sure that your conversation be teaching as well as 
your doctrine. Do not confute your doctrine by your practice, 
Be as forward in an holy and heavenly life, as you are in pres« 
sing it on others. Let your discourse be as edifying and spirit- 
ual, as you teach them theirs must be : for evil language give 
them good; and blessing for their cursing. Suffer anything, 
rather than the gospel and men's souls should suffer : ' Become 
all things [lawful] to all men, if by any means you may win 
some.' Let men see that you use not the ministry only for a 
trade to live by ; but that your hearts areset upon the welfare 
of their souls. Whatsoever meekness, humility, condescen- 
sion, or self-denial you teach them from the gospel, O teach it 



184 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST, 



them also by your unassembled example. This is to be guides, 
and pilots, and governors of the church indeed. 

What an odious sight is it, to see pride and ambition preach 
humility ! and an earthly- minded man preach for an heavenly 
conversation ! 

Do I need to tell you that are teachers of others, that we 
have but a little while longer to preach ? And but a few more 
breaths to breathe ? And then we must come down, and be ac- 
countable for our work ? Do 1 need to tell you, that we must 
die, and be judged as well as our people ? Or that justice is 
most severe about the sanctuary ? And 'judgment beginneth at 
the house of God ?' 

5. The last whom 1 would persuade to this great work of 
helping others to the heavenly rest, is parents and masters of 
families. All you that God hath intrusted with children or 
servants, consider what duty lieth on you for furthering their" 
salvation. That this exhortation may be the more effectual 
with you, I will lay down several considerations for you seri- 
ously to think on. 

1. What plain and pressing commands of God are there, that 
require this great duty at your hand ! Deut. vi. 6, 7, 8. « And 
these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thy 
heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children, 
speaking of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when 
thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when 
thou risest up.' And how well is God pleased with this in 
Abraham, Gen. xviii. 17, 19. • Shall I hide from Abraham that 
thing which I do ? For I know him, that he will command his 
children, and his household after him, that they shall keep the 
way of the Lord.' Prov. xxii. 6. ' Train up a child in the way 
he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.' 
So that you see it is a work that the Lord of heaven and earth 
hath laid upon you ; and how then dare you neglect it ? 

2. You will else be witnesses against your own souls : your 
great care and pains, and cost for their bodies, will condemn 
you for your neglect of their precious souls : you can spend 
yourselves in toiling and caring for their bodies, and even ne- 
glect your own souls, and venture them sometimes upon un- 
warrantable courses, and all to provide for your posterity : and 
have you not as much reason to provide for their souls ? Do 
you aot believe that your children must be everlastingly bar- 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. lQ(j 

py or miserable ? And should not that be fore-thought in the 
first place ? 

3. Consider, God hath made your children to be your charge ; 
vea, and your servants too : every ooe will confess they are the/ 
minister's charge, and what a dreadful thing is it for them to 
neglect them, wheu God hath told them, That if they tell not 
the wicked of their sin and danger, their blood shall be requir- 
ed at that minister's hands ! and is not your charge as great 
and as dreadful as theirs? Have not you a greater charge of 
your own families than any minister hath ? Yea, doubtless, and 
your duty it is to teach, and admonish, and reprove them, and 
watch over them, at your hands else will God require the blood 
of their souls. The greatest charge it is, that ever you were 
intrusted with, and wo to you if you prove unfaithful, and be- 
tray your trust, and suffer them to be ignorant for want of your 
teaching, or wicked for want of your admonition or correction. 

4. Look into the dispositions and lives of your children, and 
see what a work there is for you to do. First, It is not one sin 
that you must help them against, but thousands ; their name is 
legion, for they are many ■ it is not one weed that must be 
pulled up, but the field is overspread with them. Secondly, 
and how hard is it to prevail against any one of them ! They 
are hereditary diseases, bred in their natures : they are as near 
them as the very heart ; and how tenacious are all things of 
that which is natural ! How hard to teach a hare not to be 
afraid, or a lion or tyger not to be fierce ! Besides, the things 
you must teach them are quite above them ; yea, and clean 
contrary to the interest and desires of their flesh : how hard is 
it to teach a man to be willing to be poor and despised for 
Christ ; to deny themselves, and displease the flesh ; to forgive 
an enemy ; to love those that hate us ; to watch against temp- 
tations : to avoid occasions and appearances of evil ; to believe 
in a crucified Saviour ; to rejoice in tribulation ; to make God 
their delight and love ; and to have their hearts in heaven, 
while they live on earth ! I think none of this is easy ; they that 
think other wise, let them try and judge ; yet all this must be 
learned, or they are undone for ever. If you help them not to 
some trade, they cannot live in the world ; but if they be des- 
titute of these things, they shall not live in heaven. If the 
mariner be not skilful, he may be drowned ; and if the soldier 
be not skilful; he may be slain : but they that cannot do the 
Q2 



186 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

things above-mentioned, will perish for ever ; * For without 
holiness no man shall see God.' O that the Lord would make 
all you that are parents sensible, what a work and charge doth 
lie upon you ! You that neglect this important work, and talk 
to your families of nothing but the world, I tell you the blood 
of souls lies on you : make as light of it as you will, if you re- 
pent not and amend, the Lord will shortly call you to an ac- 
count for the guilt of your children's everlasting undoing. 

5. Think with yourselves, what a world of comfort you may 
have, if you be faithful in this duty : if you should not succeed, 
yet you have freed you own souls ; and though it be sad, yet you 
may have peace in your own consciences : but if you do succeed, 
the comfort is inexpressible. For, 1 . Good children will be tru- 
ly loving to their parents ; when a little matter will make ungod- 
ly children cast off their very natural affections. 2. Good chil- 
dren will be most obedient to you ; they dare not disobey you, 
because of the command of God, except you should command 
them that which is unlawful, and then the}' must obey God rath- 
er than men. J3. And if you should fall into want, they would 
be most faithful in relieving you, as knowing they are tied by a 
double bond of nature and of grace. 4. And they will also be 
helpers of your souls ; they will be delighting you with holy 
conference and actions ; when wicked children will be griev- 
ing you with cursing, and swearing, or drunkenness, or diso- 
bedience. 5. But the greatest joy will be when you shall say, 
'Here am I, and the children thou hast given me.' And are 
not all these comforts enough to persuade you to this duty ? 

6. Consider further, that the very welfare of church and 
state lieth mainly on this duty of well-educating children ; and 
without this, all other means are like to be far less successful. 
I seriously profess to you, that I verily think all the sins and 
miseries of the land may acknowledge this sin for their nurse. 
It is not good laws and orders that will reform us, if the men 
be not good, and reformation begin not at home ; when chil- 
dren go wicked from the hands of their parents, in every pro- 
fession they bring this fruit of their education with them. I 
tell you seriously, this is the cause of all our miseries in church 
and state, even the want of aholy education of children. Ma- 
ny lay the blame on this neglect, and that ; but there is none 
hath so great a hand in it as this, 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 187 

7. I entreat you that are parents, to consider what excellent 
advantages you have above all others for the saving of your 
children. 

1. They are under your hands while they are young, and 
tender, and flexible ; but they come to ministers when they are 
grown older, and stiffer, aud settled in their ways, and think 
themselves too good to be catechised. You have a twig to 
bend, and we an oak : you have the young plants of sin to 
pluck up, and we the deep-rooted vices. The consciences of 
children are not so seared with a custom of sinning, and long 
resisting grace, as others. You have the soft and tender earth 
to plough in, and we have the hard and stony ways, that have 
been trodden on by many years practice of evil. We have a 
double task, first to unteach them, and then to teach them bet- 
ter ; but you have but one. We must unteach them all that 
the world, and the flesh, and wicked company, and the devil 
have been diligently teaching them in many years. You have 
them before they are possessed with prejudioe against the 
truth : but we have them to teaeh, when they have many years 
lived among those that have taught them to think God's ways 
to be foolish. Doth not the experience of all the world shew 
you the power of education ? What else makes all the children 
of the Jews to be Jews? And all the children of the Turks to 
be Mahometans? And of christians to be in profession chris- 
tian ? And of each sect or party in religion to follow their 
parents ? Now what an advantage have you to use all this for 
the furtherance of their happiness ! 

2. Consider also, that you have the affections of your chil- 
dren more than any others : none in the world hath that inter- 
est in their hearts as you. You will receive that counsel from 
an undoubted friend, that you would not do from an enemy, or 
a stranger. Now, your children know you are their friends, 
and advise them in love ; and they cannot but love you again. 
Nature hath almost necessitated them to love you. O there- 
fore, improve this your interest in them for their good ! 

3. You have also the greatest authority over them. You 
may command them, and they dare not disobey you, or else it 
is your own fault, for the most part ; for you can make them 
obey you in your business ; yea, you may correct them to en- 
force obedience. Your authority also is the most unquestiona- 
ble authority in the world. The authority of kings and parlia- 



188 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

xnents hare been disputed, but yours is past dispute. And 
therefore if you use it not to bring them to God, you are with- 
out excuse. 

4. Besides, their dependance is on you for their maintenance. 
They know you can either give them, or deny them what you 
have, and so punish and reward them at your pleasure. But 
on ministers or neighbours they have no such dependance. 

5. Moreover, you that are parents know the temper and in- 
clinations of your children, what vices they are most inclined 
to, and what instruction or reproof they most need : but min- 
isters cannot so well know this. 

6. Above all, you are ever with them, and so have opportu- 
nity, as you know their faults, so to apply the remedy. You 
may be still talking to them of the word of God, and minding 
them of their state and duty, and may follow and set home eve- 
ry word of advice, as they are in the house with you, or in the 
shop or in the field. O what an excellent advantage is this, if 
you have hearts to use it ? Especially you mothers, remember 
this; you are more with your children, while they are little 
ones, than their fathers : be you therefore still teaching them 
as soon as ever they are capable of learning : you cannot do 
God such eminent service yourselves as men ; but you may 
train up children that may do it, and then you will have part of 
the comfort and honour. What a deal of pains are you at with 
the bodies of your children more than the fathers ? And what 
do you suffer to bring them into the world ; and will not you be 
at as much pains for the saving of their souls? You are natur- 
ally of more tender affections than men ; and will it not move 
you to think that your children should perish for ever? There- 
fore I beseech you, for the sake of the children of your bowels, 
teach them, admonish them, watch over them, and give them 
no rest till you have brought them to Christ. 

And thus I have shewed you reason enough to make you dili- 
gent in teaching your children. 

Let us next hear what is usually objected against tins by 
negligent men. 

Object. 1. We do not see but those children prove as bad as 
others, that are taught the scriptures, and brought up so holi- 
ly ; and those prove as honest men, that have none of this ado 
with them. 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST- 189 

Anew. Who art thou, O man, that disputest against God? 
Hath God charged you ' to teach your children diligently his 
word, speaking- of it as you sit at home, and as you walk abroad, 
as you lie down, and as you rise up ;' and dare you reply, that 
it is as good let it alone ? Why, this is to set God at defiance ; 
and as it were to spit m his face, and give him the lie. Will 
you take it well at your servants, if when you command them 
to do a thing, they should return you an answer, that they do 
not see but it were as good let it alone ? Wretched worm ! 
darest thou thus lift up thy head against the Lord that made 
thee, and must judge thee ? Is it not he that commandeth thee ? 
If thou believe that this is the word of God, how darest thou 
say it is as good disobey it ? This is devilish pride indeed, 
when such sottish, sinful dust> shall think themselves wiser 
than the living God. 

2. But what if some prove bad that are well brought up ? It 
is not the generality of them. Will you say that Noah's family 
was no better than the drowned world, because there was one 
Ham in it ? Nor David's, because there was one Absalom ? Nor 
Christ's, because there was one Judas ? 

3. But what if it were so ? Have men need of the less teach- 
ing, or the more ? You have more wit in the matters of this 
world. You will not say, 1 see many labour hard, and yet are 
poor, and therefore it is as good never to labour at all : You 
will not say, many that go to school learn nothing, and there- 
fore they may learn as much though they never go ; or many 
that are great tradesmen break, and therefore it is as good 
never to trade at all ; for many plough and sow and have noth- 
ing come up, and therefore it is as good never to plough more. 
What a fool were he that should reason thus ! And is not he a 
thousand times worse, that shall reason thus for men's souls ? 
Peter reasons the clean contrary way, ' If the righteous scarce- 
ly be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear,' I Pet. 
iv. 18. And so doth Christ, Luke xiii. 24. * Strive to enter in 
at the strait gate ; for many shall seek to enter, and not be 
able.' Other men's miscarriages should quicken our diligence, 
and not make us cast away all. What should you think of that 
man that should look over into nis neighbour's garden, and 
because he sees here and there a nettle or weed among much 
better stuff, should say, Why, you may see these men that be^ 
stow bo much pains in digging ai^d weeding, have weeds in their 



190 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

garden as well as 1, that do nothing, and therefore who would 
be at so much pains ? Just thus doth the mad world talk. You 
may see now that those that pray, and read, and follow ser- 
mons, have their faults as well as we, and have wicked persons 
among them as well as we : yea, but that is not the whole gar- 
den, as yours is ; it is but here and there a weed, and as soon 
as they spy it, they pluck it up, and cast it away. 

Object. 2. Some further object, it is the work of ministers to 
teach both us and our children, and therefore we may be ex- 
cused. 

Answer 1. It is first your duty, and then the minister's. It 
will be no excuse for you, because it is their work, except you 
could prove it were onlj theirs. Magistrates must govern both 
you and your children: doth it therefore follow that you must 
not govern them ? It belongs to the schoolmaster to correct 
them, and doth it not belong also to you ? There must go many 
hands to this great work ; as to the building of an house there 
must be many workmen, one to one part, and another to anoth- 
er, and one must not leave their part, and say it belongs to the 
other ; so it is here in the instructing of your children: first, 
you must do your work, and then the minister must do his : you 
must be doing it privately, night and day ; the minister must 
-flo it publicly and privately, as oft as he can. 

2. But as the case now stands with ministers, they are disa- 
bled from doing that which belongs to their office, and there- 
fore you cannot now cast your work on them. 1 will instance 
but in two things. 

First. It belongs to their office to govern the church, and to 
teach with authority ; and great and small are commanded to 
obey them, Heb. xiii. 7. 17. But this is unknown, and hearers 
look on themselves as free- men, that may obey or not at their 
own pleasure, People think we have authority to speak to 
them when they please to hear, and no more. Nay, few c. 
the godly themselves understand the authority that their teach- 
ers have over them from Christ : they know how to value a 
minister's gifts, but not how they are bound to obey him be- 
cause of his office: not that they should obey him in evil, nor 
that he should be a final decider of all controversies, nor should 
exercise his authority in things cf no moment ; but as a school- 
master may command bis scholars when to come to school, and 
what book to read, and what form to be of; and as they ought 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 191 

to obey him, and learn of him, and not to set their wits against 
his, but to take his word, and believe him as their teacher, till 
they understand as well as he, and are ready to Uave his 
school ; just so are the people bound to obey and learn of their 
teachers. Now this ministerial authority is unknown, and so 
ministers are the less capable of doing their work, which comes 
to pass, 1 . From the pride of man's nature, especially novices, 
which makes men impatient of the reins of guidance and com- 
mand : 2. From the Popish error of implicit faith ; to avoid 
which, we are driven as far into the contrary extreme : and 3. 
-From the modesty of ministers, that are loth to shew their 
commission, and make known their authority, lest they should 
be thought proud : as if a pilot should let the seamen run the 
ship whither they will, for fear of being thought proud in exer- 
cising his authority. 

Secondly, A far greater clog than this doth lie upon minis- 
ters, which few take notice of; and that is, the fewness of min- 
isters, and tbe greatness of congregations. In the apostles* 
time every church had a multitude of ministers, and so it must 
be again, or we shall never come near that primitive pattern ; 
and then they could preach publicly, and from house to house : 
but now, when there is but one or two ministers to many thou- 
sand souls, we cannot teach them one by one. So that you see, 
you have little reason to cast your work on the ministers, 
but should the more help them by your diligence in your sev- 
eral families, because they are already so over- burdened. 

Object. 3. But some will say, We are poor men and must la- 
bour for our living and so must our children ; we cannot have 
time to teach them the scriptures, we have somewhat else for 
them to do. 

Answer, And are not poor men subject to God, as well as 
rich ? And are they not christians ? And must they not give 
account of their ways? And have not your children souls to 
save or lose, as well as the rich ? Cannot you find time to speak 
to them as they are at their work? Have you not time to in- 
struct them on the Lord's day ? You can find time to talk idly» 
as poor as you are ; and can you find no time to talk of the way 
to life ? You can find time on the Lord's day for your children 
to play, or walk, or talk in the streets, but no time to mind the 
life to come. Meihinks you should rather say to your children, 
I have no lands to leave you : you have no hope of great mat- 



£92 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

ters here ; be sure therefore to make the Lord your portion, 
that you may be happy hereafter ; if you could get riches* 
they would shortly leave you but the riches of grace and glory 
will be everlasting. Methinks you should say, as Peter, ' Sil- 
ver aod gold I have none, but such as I have, 1 give you ' The 
kingdoms of the world cannot be had by beggars, but the king- 
dom of heaven may. 

O what a terrible reckoning will many poor men have, when 
Christ shall plead his cause and judge them ! May not he say, 
1 made the way to worldly honours inaccessible to you, that 
you might not look after it for yourselves or your children ; hut 
heaven 1 set open that you might have nothing to discourage 
you : 1 confined riches aod honours to a few ; but my blood 
and salvation 1 offered to all, that none might say, I was not 
invited : 1 tendered heaven to the poor as well as the rich : 1 
made no exception against the meanest beggar ; why then did 
you not come yourselves, and bring your children, and teach 
them the way to the eternal inheritance ? Do you say you were 
poor? Why, I did not set heaven to sale for money ; 1 called 
those that had nothing, to take it freely : only on condition they 
would take me for their Saviour and Lord, and give up them- 
selves to me in obedience atd love. 

What can you answer Christ, when he shall thus convince 
you ? Is it not enough that your children are poor and misera- 
ble here, but you would have them be worse for everlasting ? 
If your children were beggars, yet if they were such beggars 
as Lazarus, they may be conveyed by angels into the presence 
of God. But believe it, as God will save no man because he 
is a gentleman, so will he save no man because he is a beggar. 
God hath so ordered it in his providence, that riches are com- 
mon occasions of men's damnation, and will you think poverty 
a sufficient excuse ? The hardest point in all our work is to be 
weaned from the world, and in love with heaven : and if you 
will not be weaned from it, that have nothing in it but labour 
and sorrow, you have no excuse. The poor cannot have time, 
and the rich will not have time, or they are ashamed to be so 
forward: the young think it too soon, and the old too late; 
and thus most men instead of being saved, have somewhat to 
say against their salvation ; and when Christ sendeth to invite 
them, they 6ty, * I pray thee have me excused.' O unworthy 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 193 

gueste of such a blessed feast, and worthy to be turned into ev- 
erlasting burnings. 

Object. 4. But some will object, we have been brought up in 
ignorance ourselves, and therefore we are unable to teach our 
children. 

Answ. Indeed this is the very sore of the land ; but is it not 
a pity that men should so receive their destruction by tradition ? 
Would you have this course to go on thus still ? Your parents 
did not teach you, and therefore you cannot teach your chil- 
dren, and therefore they cannot teach theirs : by this course 
the knowledge of God would be banished out of the world, and 
never be recovered. But if your parents did not teach you, 
why did not you learn when you came to age ? The truth is, 
you bad no hearts for it, for he that hath not knowledge, can- 
not value it, or love it. But yet though you have greatly sin- 
ned, it is not too late, if you will but follow my faithful advice 
in these four points. 

1. Get your hearts deeply sensible of your own sin and mise* 
ry, because of this long time which you have spent in ignorance 
and neglect. Bethink yourselves when you are alone ; did not 
God make you, and sustain you for his service ? Should not he 
have had the youth and strength of your spirits ? Did you 
live all this time at the door of eternity ? What if you had died 
in ignorance, where had you been ? What a deal of time have 
you spent to little purpose ? Your life is near done, and your 
work all undone. You are ready to die before you have 
learned to live. Should not God have had a better share of 
your lives, and your souls been more regarded and provided 
for? In the midst of these thoughts, cast down yourselves in 
sorrow, as at the feet of Christ ; bewail your folly, and be<* 
pardon and recovering grace. 

2. Then think as sadly how you have wronged your children. 
If an unthriftthat hath sold all his lands, will lament it &>r his 
children's sake, as well as his own, much more should you. 

3. INext set presently to work and learn yourselves. If you 
can read, do ; if you cannot, get some that can ; and be much 
among these that will instruct you : be not ashamed to be seen 
among learners, but be ashamed that you had not learned soon- 
er. God forbid you should be so mad, as to say, I am now too 
old to learn ; except you be too old to serve God, and be saved, 
how can you b$ too old to learn to be saved ? Why not rather, 

R 



194 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

I am too old to serve the devil and the world, I have tried them 
too long* to trust them any more. What if your parents had 
not taught you any trade to live by ? Would not you have set 
yourselves to learn, when you had come to age ? Itemembcr 
that you have souls to care for, as well as your children, and 
therefore first begin with yourselves* 

4. While you are learning yourselves, teach your children 
what you do know ; and what you cannot teach them your- 
selves, put them to learn of others that can ; persuade them 
into the company of those who will be glad to instruct them. — 
Have you no neighbours that will be helpful to you herein ? O 
do not keep yourselves strange to them, but go among them, 
and desire their help, and be thankful to them, that they will 
entertain you in their company. God forbid that you should 
be like those that Christ speaks of, Luke xi. 52. t that would 
neither enter into the kingdom of God themselves, nor suffer 
those that would, to enter.' God forbid you should be such 
barbarous wretches, as to hinder your children from being 
godly, and to teach them to be wicked ! If any thing that 
walks in flesh may be called a devil, 1 think it is a parent that 
hindereth his children from salvation : nay, I will say more, I 
verily think that in this they are far worse than the devil. God 
is a righteous judge, and will not make the devil himself worse 
than he is : I pray you be patient while you consider it, and 
then judge yourselves. They are the parents of their children, 
and so is not the devil : do you think then that it is as great a 
fault in him to seek their destruction, as in them ? Is it as great 
a fault for the wolf to kill the lambs, as for their own dams to 
do it ? Is it so horrid a fault for an enemy in war to kill a child, 
or for a bear or mad dog to kill it, as for the mother to dash its 
brains against a wall ? You know it is not : do you think then, 
that it is so hateful a thing in Satan to entice your children to 
sin and hell, and to discourage and dissuade them from holi- 
ness, as it is in you ? You are bound to love them by nature, 
more than Satan is. O then, what people are those that will 
teach their children, instead of holiness, to curse, and swear, 
and rail, and back-bite, to be proud and revengeful, to break 
the Lord's day, and to despise his ways, to speak wantonly and 
filthily, to scorn at holiness, and glory in sin ! O when God 
shall ask these children, where learned you this language and 
practice ? and they shall say, I learned it of my father or moth- 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 195 

er : I would not be in the case of those parents for all the 
world ! Alas, is it a work that is worth the teaching, to undo 
themselves for ever ? Or can they not without teaching learn 
it too easily of themselves ? Do you need to teach a serpent to 
sting", or a lion to be fierce ? Do you need to sow weeds in your 
garden ? Will they not grow of themselves ? To build an house 
requires skill and teaching, but a little may serve to set a town 
on fire : to heal the wounded or the sick, requireth skill ; but 
to make a man sick, or to kill him, requireth but little. You 
may sooner teach your children to swear, than to pray ; and to 
mock at godliness, than to be truly godly. If these parents 
were sworn enemies to their children, and should study seven 
years, how to do them the greatest mischief, they could not pos- 
sibly find out a surer way, than by drawing them to sin, and 
withdrawing them from God. 

I shall therefore conclude with this earnest request to all 
christian parents that read these lines, that they would have 
compassion on the soujs of their poor children, and be faithful 
to the great trust God hath put on them. O sirs I If you can- 
not do what you would do for tbem, yet do what you can.— 
Both church and state, city and country, groan under the ne- 
glect of this weighty duty ; your children know not God, nor 
his laws: but take his name in vain, and slight his worship: 
and you do neither instruct them nor correct them, and there- 
fore God doth correct both them and you. You are so tender 
of them, that God is the less tender both of them and you. 
Wonder not if God make you smart for your children's sins ; 
for you are guilty of all they commit, by your neglect of doing 
your duty to reform them ; even as he that maketh a man 
drunk, is guilty of all the ^in that he committeth in his drunk- 
enness. Will you resolve therefore to set upon this duty, and 
neglect it no longer? Remember Eli : your children are like 
Moses in the basket, in the water, ready to perish if they have 
not help. As ever you would not be charged before God for 
murderers of their souls ; and as ever you would not have them 
cry out against you in everlasting fire, see that you teach them 
how to escape it, and bring them up in holiness, and the fear of 
God. 

You have heard that the God of heaven doth flatly command 
it: 1 charge every man of you therefore, upon your allegiance 
to him, as you will very shortly answer the contrary at your 



196 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING RES!\ 

peril, that you will neither refuse or neglect this most neces- 
sary work. If you are not willing to do it, now you know it to 
be so plain and so great a duty, you are flat rebels, and no 
true subjects of Christ. If you are willing to do it, but know 
not how, I will add a few words of direction lo help you. 

1. Teach them by your own example, as well as by your 
words. Be yourselves such as you would have them be ; prac- 
tice is the most effectual teaching of children, who are addict- 
ed to imitation, especially of their parents. Lead them the 
way to prayer, and reading, and other duties. Be not like 
base commanders, that will put on their soldiers, but not go on 
themselves. Can you expect your children should be wiser or 
better than you ! Let them not hear those words out of your 
mouths, nor see those practices in your lives, which you' re- 
prove in them. Who should lead the way in holiness, but the 
father and master of the family ? It is a sad time when a master 
or father will not hinder his family from serving God, but will 
give them leave to go to heaven without him. 

1 will but name the rest of your direct duty for your family. 
J. You must help to inform their understandings. 2. To store 
their memories. 3. To rectify their wills. 4. To quicken 
their affections. 5. To keep tender their consciences. 6. To 
restrain their tongues, and help them to skill in gracious 
speech ; and to reform and watch over their outward conver- 
sation. 

To these ends, 1. Be sure to keep them, at least, so long at 
school, till they can read EBglish. It is a thousand pities a 
reasonable creature should look upon a bible, as upon a stone, 
or a piece of wood. 2. Get them bibles and good books, and 
see that they read them. 3. Examine them often what they 
learn. 4. Especially spend the Lord's day in this work, and 
see that they spend it not in sports and idleness. 5. Shew 
them the meaning of what they read and learn. 6. Acquaint 
them with, and keep them in company, where they may learn 
good, and keep them out of that company that would teach them 
evil. 7. Be sure to cause them to learn some catechism, con- 
taining the chief heads of divinity. 

The heads of divinity which you must teach them first, are 
these : 

1 . That there is one only God, who is a spirit, invisible, infi- 
nite, eternal, almighty, good, merciful, true, just, holy. £. 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 197 

That this God is one in three, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
3. That he is the Maker, Maintainer, and Lord of all. 4. That 
man's happiness consisteth in the enjoying 1 of this God, and not 
in fleshly pleasure, profits, or honours. 5. That God made the 
first man upright and happy, and gave him a law to keep, with 
condition, that if he kept it perfectly, he should live happy for 
ever ; but if he broke it, he should die. 6. That man broke this 
law, and so forfeited his welfare, and became guilty of death as 
to himself, and all his posterity. 7. That Christ the Son of God 
did here interpose, and prevent the full execution, undertaking 
to die instead of man, and so redeem him. 8. That Christ 
hereupon did make with man a better covenant, which pro- 
claimed pardon of sin to all that did but repent, and believe, 
and obey sincerely. 9. That he revealed this covenant and 
mercy to the world by degrees : First, in darker promises, 
prophesies, and sacrifices ; then in many ceremonious types ; 
and then by more plain foretelling by the prophets. 10. That 
in the fulness of time Christ came and took our nature into 
union with his God-head, being conceived by the Holy Ghost, 
and born of the Virgin Mary. 1 1 . That while he was on earth, 
he lived a life of sorrows, was crowned with thorns, and bore 
the pains that our sins deserved : at last being crucified to 
death, and buried, so satisfied the justice of God. J 2. That he 
also preached to the Jews, and by constant miracles proved 
the truth of his doctrines before thousands of witnesses: that 
he revealed more fully his new covenant, That whosoever will 
believe in him, and accept him for their Saviour and Lord, shall 
be pardoned and saved, and have afar greater glory than they 
lost; and they that will not, shall lie under the curse and guilt, 
and be condemned to the everlasting fire of hell. 13. That he 
rose again from the dead, having conquered death, and took 
possession of his dominion over all, and so ascended up into 
heaven, and there reigneth in glory. 14. That before his as- 
cension he gave charge to his apostles to preach the gospel to 
all nations and persons, and to offer Christ, and mercy, and life, 
to every one without exception, and to entreat and persuade 
them to receive him, and that he gave them authority to send 
forth others, on the same message, and to baptize, and to gath- 
er churches, and confirm, and order them, and settle a oourse 
for the succession of ministers and ordinances to the end of the 
world. 15. That he also gave them power to work frequent 
R 2 



298 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST- 



and evident miracles for the confirmation of their doctrine \ 
and to annex their writings to the rest of the scriptures and so 
to finish and seal them up, and deliver them to the world as his 
infallible word, which none must dare to alter, and which all 
must observe. 16. That for all his free grace is offered to the 
world, yet the heart is by nature so desperately wicked, that 
no man will believe and entertain Christ sincerely,, except by 
an almighty power he be changed and born again ; and there- 
fore doth Christ send forth his Spirit with his word, which 
worketh holiness in our hearts, drawing us to God and the Re- 
deemer. 1 7. That the means by which Christ worketh and 
preserveth this grace, is the word read and preached, together 
with frequent, fervent prayer, meditation, sacraments, and 
gracious conferences ; and it is much furthered also by special 
providences keeping us from temptation ; fitting occurrences 
to our advantage, drawing us by mercies, and driving us by 
afSictions : and therefore it must be the great and daily care 
of every christian to use faithfully all the ordinances, and im- 
prove all providences. 18. That though the new law or cove- 
nant be an easy yoke, and there is nothing grievous in Christ's 
commands, yet so bad are our hearts, and so strong our tempta- 
tions, and so diligent our enemies, that whosoever will be sav- 
ed, must strive, and watch, and bestow his utmost care and 
pains, and deny his flesh, and forsake all that would draw him 
from Christ, and herein continue to the end, and overcome : 
and because this cannot be done without continual supplies of 
grace, whereof Christ is the only fountain, therefore we must 
live in continual dependence on him by faith, and know * that 
our life is hid with God in him.' 19. That Christ will thus by 
Ms word and Spirit gather him a church out of all the world, 
which is his body, and spouse, and be their head and husband, 
and will be tender of them as the apple of his eyes, and pre- 
serve them from danger, and continue among them his presence 
and ordinances ; and that the members of this church must 
live together in entire love and peace, delighting themselves in 
God, and his worship, and the forethoughts of their everlasting 
happiness ; forbearing and forgiving one another, and reliev- 
ing each other in need ; and all men ought to strive to be of 
this society : yet will the visible churches be still mixed of good 
and bad. 20. That when the full number of these are called 
home; Christ will come down from heaven again, and raise all 



T*HE SAINTS EVERLASTING RESfy 199 

the dead, and set them before him to be judged ; and all that 
have loved God, and believed in Christ, and been willing that 
he should reign over them, and have improved their mercies in 
the day of grace, them he will justify, and sentence them to in- 
herit everlasting glory : and those that were not such, he will 
condemn to everlasting fire : both which sentences shall be 
then executed accordingly. 

This is the brief sum of the doctrine which you must teach 
your children. Though our ordinary creed, called the apos- 
tles' creed, contain all the absolute fundamentals ; yet in some 
it is so generally and darkly expressed, that an explication is 
necessary. 

Then for matter of practice teach them the meaning of the 
commandments, especially of the great commands of the gos- 
pel ; shew them what is commanded and forbidden in the first 
table, and in the second, toward God and men, in regard of 
the inward and outward man. And here shew them, 1. The 
authority commanding, that is, the Almighty God, by Christ 
the Redeemer. They are not now to look at the command as 
coming from God immediately, merely as God, or the Creator : 
but as coming from God, by Christ the Mediator, * who is now 
the Lord of all ;' seeing * the Father now judge th no man, but 
hath committed all judgment to the Son.' 2. Shew them the 
terms on which duty is required, and the ends of it. 3. And 
the nature of duties, and the way to perform them aright. 4, 
And (he right order, that they first love God, and then their 
neighbour; 4 first seek the kingdom of God and his righteous- 
ness.' 5. Shew them the excellencies and delights of God's 
service. 6. And the flat necessity of all this. 7. Especially 
labour to get all to their hearts, and teach them not only to 
speak the words, but to reduce them to practice. 

And for sin, shew them its evil and danger, and watch over 
them against it. Especially, J . The sins that youth is com- 
monly addicted to. 2. And which their nature and constitu- 
tion most lead them to. 3. And which the time and place most 
strongly tempt to. 4. But especially be sure to kill their kill- 
ing sins, those that all are prone to, and are of all most deadly ; 
as pride, worldliness, ignorance, profaneness, and flesh pleas- 
ing. 

And for the manner, yon must do all this. 1 . Betimes, be- 
fore sin get rooting. 2. Frequently. 3. Seasonably. 4. Se- 



200 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

riously and diligently. 5. Affectionately and tenderly. 6. And 
with authority : compelling, where commanding will not serve ; 
and adding correction, where instruction is frustrated. 

And thus I have done with the use of exhortation, to do 
our utmost for the salvation of others. The Lord give men 
compassionate hearts, that it may be practised, and then I 
doubt not but he will succeed it to the increase of his church, 



END OF THE SECOND PART, 



THE 

SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

PART III. 

CONTAINING A DIRECTORY FOR THE GETTING AND KEEPING 

THE HEART IN HEAVEN, BY THE DILIGENT PRACTICE 

OP THAT EXCELLENT DUTY OF MEDITATION. 

-••$©«•«— 

CHAPTER I. 

REPROVING OUR EXPECTATIONS OF REST ON EARTH. 

DOTH this rest remain ? How great then is our sin and folly 
to seek and expect it here ! Where shall we find the christian 
that deserves not this reproof? Surely we may all cry guilty to 
this. We know not how to enjoy convenient houses, goods, 
lands, and revenues, but we seek rest in these enjoyments. — 
We seldom, 1 fear, have such sweet and contenting thoughts 
of God and glory, as we have of our earthly delights. How 
much rest do we seek in buildings, walks, apparel, ease, re- 
creation, sleep, pleasing meats and drinks, company, health, 
and strength, and long life ? Nay, we can scarce enjoy the 
necessary means that God hath appointed for our spiritual 
good, but we are seeking rest in them. Our books, our preach- 
ers, sermons, friends, abilities for duty, do not our hearts quiet 
themselves in them, even more than in God ? Indeed, in words 
we disclaim, and God hath usually the pre-eminence in our 
tongues and professions : but do we not desire these more vio- 
lently when we want them than we do the Lord himself? Do 
we not cry out more sensibly, O my friend, my goods, my 
health ! than, O my God ! Do we not miss ministry and means 
more passionately than we miss our God ? Do we not bestir our- 
selves more to obtain and enjoy these, than we do to recover 
our communion with God ? Do we not delight more in the pos» 



202 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

session of these, than we do in the fruition of God himself? 
Nay, are not those mercies and duties more pleasant to us, 
wherein we stand at the greatest distance from God ? We can 
read, and study, and confer, preach and hear day after day, 
without much weariness ; because in these we have to do with 
instruments and creatures : but in secret prayer and convers- 
ing with God immediately, where no creature interposeth, how 
dull, how heartless, and weary are we ! And if we lose crea- 
tures or means, doth it not trouble us more than our loss of 
God ? If we lose but a friend, or health, all the town will hear 
of it ; but we can miss our God and scarce bemoan our misery. 
Thus it is apparent, we make the creature our rest. It is not 
enough, that they are refreshing helps in our way to heaven ; 
but they must also be made our heaven itself. Reader. 1 would 
as willingly make thee sensible of this sin, as of any sin in the 
world ; for the Lord's greatest quarrel with us is in this point. 
Therefore 1 most earnestly beseech thee to press upon thine 
own conscience these following considerations. 

1. It is gross idolatry to make any creature or means our 
rest : to settle the soul upon it, and say, now I am well, upon 
the bare enjoyment of the creature : what is this, but to make 
it our God ? Certainly, to be the soul's rest is God's own pre- 
rogative. And as it is palpable idolatry to place our rest in 
riches and honours ; so it is but a more refined idolatry to take 
up our rest in excellent means, in the church's prosperity, and 
in its reformation. When we would have all that out of God, 
which is to be had only in God ; what is this but to run away 
from him to the creature, and in our hearts to deny him ? When 
we fetch more of our comfort from the thoughts of prosperity, 
and those mercies which we have at a distance from God, than 
from the fore-thoughts of our everlasting blessedness in him. — 
Are we christians in judgment, and pagans in affection ? Do 
we give our senses leave to be the choosers of our happiness, 
while reason and faith stand by ? O how ill must our dear Lord 
needs take it, when we give him cause to complain, as some- 
time he did of our fellow- idolaters, Jer. i. 6. that we have 
been lost sheep, and have forgotten our resting place ! When 
we give him cause to say, my people can find rest in any thing 
rather than in me ! They can find delight in one another, but 
none in me ; they can rejoice in my creatures and ordinances, 
but not in me ; yea, in their very labours and duty they seek 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 203 

for -rest, but not in me ; they had rather be any where than be 
with me: are these their gods? Have these delivered and re- 
deemed them;? Will these be better to them than I have been 
or than 1 would be? If yourselves have but a wife, a husband, 
a son, that had rather be any where than in your company, and 
is never so merry as when furthest from you, would you not 
take it iil yourselves? Why so must our God needs do. For 
what do we but lay these things in cne end of the balance, and 
God in the other, and foolishly prefer them before him ? As £1- 
kanah said to Hannah, * Am not 1 better to thee than ten sons P 
So when we are longing after creatures, we may hear God say, 
am not I better than all the creatures to thee ? 

2. Consider, how thou contradictest the end of God in giving 
these things. He gave them to help thee to him, and dost thou 
take up with them in his stead ? He gave them that they might 
be refreshments in thy journey; and wouldst thou now dwell 
in thy inn, and go no further ? Thou dost not only contradict 
God herein, but losest that benefit which thou mightest re- 
ceive by them, yea, and raakest them thy great hurt and hin- 
derance. Surely, it may be said of all our comforts and all or- 
dinances, and the blessedest enjoyments in the church on 
earth, as God said to the Israelites of his ark, Num. x. 33. 
1 The ark of the covenant went before them, to search out for 
them a resting place.' So do all God's mercies here. They 
are not that rest, (as John professetlr he was not the Christ) 
but they are voices crying in this wilderness, to bid us prepare ; 
for the kingdom of God, our true rest, is at hand. Therefore 
to rest here, were to turn all mercies clean contrary to their 
own ends, and our own advantages, and to destroy ourselves 
with that which should help us. 

3. Consider, whether it be not the most probable way to 
cause God, either, first, to deny those mercies which we de- 
sire ; or, secondly, to take from us these which we enjoy ; or, 
thirdly, to imbitter them, or curse them to us ? Certainly, God 
is no where so jealous as here : if you had a servant whom your 
wife loved better than she did yourself, would you not take it 
ill of such a wife, and rid your house of such a servant ? Why 
so, if the Lord see you begin to settle in the world, and say, 
here I will rest, no wonder if he soon in his jealousy unsettle 
you . If he love you , no wonder if he take that from you where- 
with he sees you about to destroy yourselves. 



204 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST* 

It bath been long ray observation of many, that when they 
have attempted great works, and have just finished them ; or 
have aimed at great things in the world, and have j->st obtain- 
ed them : or have lived in much trouble, and just come to be- 
gin with some content to look upon their condition, and rest in 
it, they are near to death and ruin. When a man is once at 
this language, ' Soul take thy ease ;' the next news usually is, 
* Thou fool, this night,' or this month, or this year, ' shall thy 
soul be required of thee, and then whose shall these things be ?' 

what house is there where this fool dwelleth not ? Let you 
and ! consider, whether this be not our own case. Have not I 
after such an unsettled life, and aftei so many longings and 
prayers for these days ! Have not 1 thought of them with too 
much content, and been ready to say, l Soul, take thy rest ?' 
Have not I comforted myself more in the fore-thoughts of en- 
joying these, than of coming to heaven and enjoying God ? — 
What wonder then if God cut me off, when I am just sitting 
down in this supposed rest ? And hath not the like been your 
condition ? Many of you have been soldiers, driven from house 
and home, endured a life of trouble and blood, been deprived 
of ministry and means : did you not reckon up all the comforts 
you should have at your return ; and glad your hearts with 
such thoughts, more than with the thoughts of your comiDg to 
heaven? Why, what wonder if God now cross you, and turn 
some of your joy into sadness? Many a servant of God hath 
been destroyed from the earth, by being over valued and over 
loved. I pray God you may take warning for the time to come, 
that you rob not yourselves of all your mercies. I am persuad- 
ed our discontents and murmurings are not so provoking to 
God, nor so destructive to the sioner, as our too sweet enjoy- 
ing, and rest of spirit, in a pleasing state. If God hath crossed 
any of you in wife, children, goods, friends, either by taking 
th^m from you, or the comfort of them : try whether this be not 
the cause ; for wheresoever your desires stop, and you say, now 

1 am well : that condition you make your God, and engage the 
jealousy of God against it. Whether you be friends to God or 
enemies, you can never expect that God should suffer you qui- 
etly to enjoy your idols. 

4. Consider, if God should suffer thee thus to take up thy 
rest here, it were one- of the greatest curses that could befal 
thee : it were better for thee if thou never hadst a day of ease 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 20£ 

iq the world : for then weariness might make thee seek after 
true rest. But if he should suffer thee to sit down and rest 
here, where were thy rest when tbis deceives thee ? A restless 
wretch thou wouldst be through all eternity. To have their 
good things on the earth, is the lot of the most miserable per- 
ishing sinners. Doth it become christians then to expect so 
much here ? Our rest is our heaven : and where we take our 
rest, there we make our heaven : and wouldst thou have but 
such a heaven as this ? It will be but as a handful of waters to 
a man that is drowning, which will help to destroy, but not to 
save him. 

5. Consider, thou seekest rest where it is not to be found, 
and so wilt lose all thy labour.* I think i shall easily evince 
this by these clear demonstrations following : 

First, Our rest is only ia the full obtaining our ultimate end ; 
but that is not to be expected in this life. Is God to be enjoy- 
ed in the best reformed church here, as he is in heaven ? You 
confess he is not ; how little of God, not only the multitude of 
the oiind world, but sometimes the saints themselves enjoy ! — • 
And how poor comforters are the best ordinances and enjoy- 
ments without God ! Should a traveller take up his rest in the 
way ? No, because his home is his journey's end. When you 
have all that creatures and means can afford, have you that 
you sought for ? Have you that you believe, pray, suffer for ? I 
think you dare not say so. Why then do we ©nee dream of 
resting here ? We are like little children strayed from home ; 
and God is now fetching us home ; and we are read}- to turn 
into any house, stay and play with every thing in our way, and 
sit down on every green bank, and much ado there is to get us 
home. 

Secondly, As we have not yet obtained our end, so are we in 
the midst of labours and dangers: and is there any resting 
here ? What painful work doth lie upon our hands ! Look to 
our brethren, to our souls, to God ; and what a deal of work in 
respect of each of these, doth lie before us ! And can we rest 
in our labours ? Indeed we may ease ourselves sometimes in 
our troubles ; but that is not the rest we are new speaking of; 
we may rest on earth, as the ark is said to rest in the midst of 
Jordan, Josh. iii. 13, Or as the angels of heaven are desired to 
turn in, and rest tLem on earth, Gen. xviii, 4. They would 
have been loth to have taken up their dwelling there. Should 
s 



206 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

Israel have settled his rest in the wilderness, among" serpepts? 
and enemies, and weariness, and famine ? Should Noah have 
made the ark his home, and been loth to come forth when the 
waters were fallen ? Should the mariner choose his dwelling on 
the sea, and settle his rest in the midst of rocks, and sands, and 
tempests ? Though he may adventure through all these, for a 
commodity of worth ; yet 1 think he takes it not for his rest. — 
Should a soldier rest in the midst of fight, when he is in the 
very thickest of his enemies ? And are not christians such trav- 
ellers,, such mariners, such soldiers ? Have you net fears with* 
in, and troubles without ? Are we not in the thickest of con- 
tinual dangers ? We cannot eat, drink, sleep, labour, pray, 
hear or confer, but in the midst of snares ; and shall we sit 
down and rest here ? O christian, follow thy work, look to thy 
danger, bold on to the end ; win the field and come off the 
ground, before you think of settling to rest. 1 read that Christ, 
when he was on the cross, comforted the converted thief with 
this, * This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise :' but if he 
had only comforted him with telling him, that he should rest 
there on the cross, would he not have taken it for a derision ? 
Methinks it should be ill resting in the midst of sicknesses and 
pains, persecution and distresses ; one would think it should be 
no contented dwelling for lambs among wolves. 1 say therefore 
to every one that thinketh of rest on earth, ' Arise ye, depart, 
this is not your rest.' 

6. Consult with experience, both other men's and your own ; 
many thousands have made trial, but did ever one of these find 
a sufficient rest for his soul on earth ? Delights 1 deny not but 
they have found ; but rest and satisfaction they never found : 
and shall we think to find that which never man could find be- 
fore us ? Ahab's kingdom is nothing to him, except he had also 
INaboth's vineyard, and did that satisfy him when he had ob- 
tained it? If we had conquered the whole world, we should 
perhaps do as Alexander, sit down and weep because there was 
never another world to conquer. Go ask honour, is there rest 
here ? Why you may as well rest on the top of the tempestuous 
mountains, or in Etna's flames, Ask riches, is there rest 
here ? Even such as is in a bed of thorns. Inquire of worldly 
pleasure and ease, can they give you any tidings of true rest? 
Even such as the fish in swallowing the bait ; when the pleasure 
is sweetest, death is the nearest. Such is the rest that all 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 207 

worldly pleasures afford. Go to learning, to the purest, plenti- 
fullest, powerfuliest ordinances, or compass sea and land to find 
out the most perfect church ; and inquire whether there your 
soul may rest ? You might haply receive from these an olive 
branch of hope, as they are means to ycur rest, and have rela- 
tion to eternity ; but in regard of any satisfaction in themselves, 
you would remain as restless as ever. O how well might all 
these answer us, as Jacob did .Rachel, ' Am I instead of God ? y 
So may the highest perfections on earth say, are we instead of 
God ? Go take a view of all estates of men in the world, and 
see whether any of them have found this rest. Go to the hus- 
bandman, behold his endless labours, his continual care, and 
toil, and weariness, and you will easily see, that there is no rest : 
go to the tradesman, and you shall find the like : If I should 
send you lower, you would judge your labour lost: go to the 
painful minister, and there you will yet more easily be satisfied ; 
for though his spending, endless labours are exceeding sweet, 
yet it is not because they are his rest, but in reference to 
his people's, and his own eternal rest : if you would ascend to 
magistracy, and inquire at the throne, you would find there 
is no condition so restless. Doubtless neither court, nor coun- 
try, towns or cities, shops or fields, treasuries, libraries, solitari- 
ness, society, studies, or pulpits, can afford any such thing as 
this rest. If you could inquire of the dead of all generations, 
qr if you could ask the living through all dominions, they 
would all tell you, here is no rest ; and all mankind may say, 
' All our days are sorrow, and our labour is grief, and our hearts 
take no rest.' JEccles. ii. 23. 

If other men's experience move you not, do but take a view 
of your own : can you remember the esiate that did fully satisfy 
you ? Or if you could, will it prove a lasting state ? For my own 
part, I have run through several states of life, and though I 
never had the necessities which might occasion discontent, yet 
did I never find a settlement for my soul ; and I believe we may 
all say of our rest, as Paul of our hopes, 4 If it were in this life 
only, we were of all men most miserable.' If then either scrip- 
ture, or reason, or the experience of ourselves, and all the 
world will satisfy us, we may see there is no resting here. And 
yet how guilty are the generality of us of this sin ! How many 
halts and stops do we make, before we will make the Lord our 
rest? How must God even drive us, and fire us out of every 



208 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

condition, lest we should sit down and rest there ! If he give us 
prosperity, riches, or honour, we do in our hearts dance before 
them, as the Israelites before their calf, and say, These are thy 
godsy and conclude it is good being here. If he imbitter all 
these to us by crosses, how do we strive to have the cross remov- 
ed, and are restless till our condition be sweetened to us, that 
we may sit down again and rest where we were ? If the Lord, 
seeing cur perverseoess, shall now proceed in the cure, and 
take the creature quite away, then how do we labour, and care, 
and cry, and pray, that God would restore it, that we may make 
it our rest again ! And while we are deprived of its enjoyment, 
^nd have not our former idol, yet rather than come to God, we 
delight ourselves in our hopes of recovering our former state ; 
and as long as there is the least likelihood ©f obtaining it, we 
make those very hopes our rest : if the poor by labouring all 
their days, have but hopes of a fuller estate when they are old, 
^though an hundred to one they die before they have obtained 
it)yetdothey rest themselves on those expectations. Or if 
God doth take away both present enjoyments, and all hopes of 
recovering them, how do we search about from creature to 
creature, to find out something to supply the room, and to set- 
tle upon instead thereof ! Yea, if we can find no supply, but 
ar* sure we shall live in poverty, in sickness, in disgrace, 
while we are on earth, yet will we rather settle in this misery, 
and make a rest of a wretched being, than we will leave all 
and come to God. 

A man would thick, that a multitude of poor people, who beg* 
their bread, or can scarce with their hardest labour have sus- 
tenance for their lives, should easily be driven from resting 
here, and willingly look to heaven for rest ; and the sick, who 
have not a day of ease, or any hope of recovery left them. But 
O the cursed averseness of our souls from God ! We will rather 
account our misery our happiness, yea, that which we daily 
groan under as intolerable, than we will take up our happiness 
in God. If any place in hell were tolerable, the soul would 
rather take up its rest there, than come to God. Yea, when he 
is bringing us over to him, and hath convinced us of the worth 
of his ways and service, the last deceit of all is here, we will 
rather settle upon those ways that lead to him, and those ordi- 
nances that speak of him, and those gifts which flow from him, 
than we will come clean over to himself. 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 209 

Marvel not that 1 speak so much of resting in these ; beware 
lest it prove thy own case : 1 suppose thou art so convinced of 
the vanity of riches and honour, and pleasure, that thou canst 
more easily disclaim these : but for thy spiritual helps, thou 
lookest on these with less suspicion, and thinkest thou canst 
not delight in them too much, especially seeing" most of the 
world despise them, or delight in them too little. But doth not 
the increase of those helps dull thy longings after heaven ? 1 
know the means of grace must be loved and valued ; and he 
that delighteth in any worldly thing more than in them, is not a 
christian : but when we are content with duty instead of God, 
and had rather be at a sermon than in heaven ; and a member 
of a church here, than of that perfect church ; and rejoice in 
ordinances but as they are part of our earthly prosperity : this 
is a sad mistake. 

So far rejoice in the creature as it comes from God, or leads 
to him, or brings thee some report of his love : so far let thy 
soul take comfort in ordinances as God doth accompany them, 
or gives himself unto thy soul by them : still remembering, 
when thou hast even what thou dost most desire, yet this is not 
heaven ; yet these are but the first fruits : It is not enough 
that God alloweth us all the comfort of travellers, and accord- 
ingly to rejoice in all his mercies, but we must set up our staff 
as if we were at home. While we are at present in the body, 
we are absent from the Lord; and while we are absent from 
him, we are absent from our rest. If God were as willing to 
be absent from us, as we from him, and if he were as loth 
to he. our rest, as we are loth to rest in him, we should be left 
to an eternal restless separation. In a word, as you are sensi- 
ble of the sinfulness of your earthly discontents, so be you also 
of your irregular contents, and pray God to pardon them much 
more. And above all the plagues and judgments of God on 
this side hell, see that you watch and pray against this, [of set- 
tling any where short of heaven, or reposing your souls on any 
thing below God.] Or else, when the bough which you tread 
on, breaks, and the things which you rest upon, deceive you, 
you will perceive your labour all lost, and your highest hopes 
will make you ashamed. Try if you can persuade Satan to 
leave tempting, and the world to cease troubling and seducing ; 
if you can bring the glory of God from above, or remove the 

b2 



210 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

court from heaven to earth, and secure the continuance of this 
through eternity, then settle yourselves below, and say, Soul, 
take thy rest here ; but till then, admit not such a thought. 



CHAPTER II. 

MOTIVES TO HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS. 

We have now by the guidance of the word of the Lord, and 
by the assistance of his Spirit, shewed you the nature of the 
rest of the saints ; and acquainted you with some duties in re- 
lation thereto : We come now to the close ,of all, to press you 
to the great duty which I chiefly intended when I begun this 
subject. 

Is there a rest, aBd such a rest remaining for us ? Why then 
are our thoughts no more upon it? Why are not our hearts 
continually there ? Why dwell we not there in constant con- 
templation ? Ask your hearts in good earnest, What is the 
cause of this neglect ? Hath the eternal God provided us such 
a glory, and promised to take us up to dwell with himself? 
And is not this worth the thinking on ? Should not the strongest 
desires of our hearts be after it, and the daily delights of our 
souls be there ? Can we forget and neglect it ? What is the 
matter ? Will not God give us leave to approach this light? Or 
will he not suffer our souls to taste and see it ? Then what mean 
all his earnest invitations ? Why doth he so condemn our earth- 
ly mindedness, and command us to set our affections above ? If 
the fore-thoughts of glory were forbidden fruits, perhaps we 
should be sooner drawn unto them. Sure I am, where God 
bath forbidden us to place our thoughts and our delights, thith- 
er it is easy enough to draw them. If he say, love not the 
world, nor the things of the world, we doat upon it neverthe- 
less. How unweariedjy can we think of vanity, and day after 
day employ our minds about it ! And have we no thoughts of 
this our rest ? How freely and bow frequently can we think of 
our pleasures, our friends, our labours, our flesh, our studies, 
our news ; yea, our very miseries, our wrongs, our sufferings, 
and our fears ! But where is the christian whose heart is on 
this rest? What is the matter? Why are we not taken up with 
the views of glory, and our souls more accustomed to these de- 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 212 

Fjghtful meditations ? Are we so full of joy that we need no 
more ; or is there no matter in heaven for our joyous thoughts ; 
or rather, are not our hearts carnal and blockish? Earth will 
tend to earth. Had we more spirit, it would be otherwise with 
us. As St. Augustin cast by Cicero's writings, because they 
contained not the name of Jesus ; so let us humble and ca9t 
down these sensual hearts, that have in them no more of Christ 
and glory. As we should not own our duties any further than 
somewhat of Christ is in them, so should we no further own our 
hearts : and as we should delight in the creatures, no longer 
than they have reference to Christ and eternity, so no further 
should we approve of our own hearts. Why did Christ pro- 
nounce his disciples' eyes and ears blessed, but as they were 
the doors to let in Christ by his works and words into their 
heart ? Blessed are the eyes that so see, and the ears that so 
hear, that the heart is thereby raised to this heavenly frame. — 
Sirs, so much of your hearts as is empty of Christ and heaven, 
let it be filled with shame and sorrow, and not with ease. 

But let me turn my reprehension to exhortation, that you 
would turn this conviction into reformation. And J have the 
more hope, because 1 here address myself to men of conscience, 
that dare not wilfully disobey God ; yea, because to men 
whose portion is there, whose hopes are there, and who have 
forsaken all that they may enjoy this glory ; and shall 1 be 
discouraged from persuading such to be heavenly minded ? If 
you will not hear and obey, who will ? Whoever thou art there- 
fore that readest these lines, I require thee, as thou tenderest 
thine allegiance to the God of heaven, as ever thou hopest for 
a part in this glory, that thou presently take thy heart to task ; 
chide it for its wilful strangeness to God ; turn thy thought 
from the pursuit of vanity, bend thy soul to study eternity ; 
habituate th\self to such contemplations, and let not those 
thoughts be seldom and cursory, but settle upon them ; dwell 
here, bathe thy soul in heaven's delights ; drench thine affec- 
tions in these rivers of pleasure ; and if thy backward soul be- 
gin to flag, and thy thoughts to fly abroad, call them back, hold 
them to their work, put them on, bear not with their laziness : 
and when thou hast once tried this work, and followed on till 
thou hast got acquainted with it, and kept a close guard upon 
thy thoughts till they are accustomed to obey, thou wilt then 
find thyself in the suburbs of heaven ?. and as it were in a new 



21% THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

world ; thou wilt then find that there is sweetness in the work 
and way of God, and that the life of Christianity is a life of joy : 
thou wilt meet with those abundant consolations which thou 
hast prayed, and panted, and groaned after, and which so few 
christians obtain, because they know not the way to them, or 
else make not con=>cience of walking in it. 

You see the work now before you ; this, this is that 1 would 
fain persuade you to practise : let me bespeak your conscien- 
ces in the name of Christ, and command you by the authority I 
have received from Christ, that you faithfully set upon this du- 
ty, and fix your eye more stedfastly on your rest. Do not 
wonder that I persuade you so earnestly : though indeed if we 
were truly reasonable men, it would be a wonder that men 
should need so much persuasion to so sweet and plain a duty : 
but I know the employment is high, the heart is earthly, and 
will still draw back ; the temptations and hinderances will be 
many and great, and therefore I fear all these persuasions are 
little enough : say not, We are unable to set our own hearts on 
heaven, this must be the work of God r therefore all your ex- 
hortation is in vain. 1 tell you, though God be the chief dis- 
poser of your hearts, yet next under him you have the greatest 
command of them yourselves, and a great power in the order- 
ing of your own thoughts, and determining your own wills: 
though without Christ you can do nothing, yet under him you 
may do much, and must do much, or else you will be undone 
through your neglect : do your own parts, and you have no 
cause to distrust whether Christ will do his. 

I will here lay down some considerations, which, if you will 
but deliberately weigh with an impartial judgment, 1 doubt not 
will prove effectual with your hearts, and make you resolve 
upon this excellent duty. 

1. Consider, a heart set upon heaven, will be one of the most 
unquestionable evidences of a true work of saving grace upon 
thy soul. Would you have a sign infallible, not from me, or 
from the mouth of any man, but from the mouth of Jesus Christ 
himself, which all the enemies of the use of marks can lay no 
exceptions against? Why here is such a one, Matt. vi. 4l. 
' Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also ' Know 
once assuredly where your heart is, and you may easily know 
that your treasure is there. God is the saints' treasure and 
happiness : heaven is the place where they fully enjoy him : a 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 213 

heart therefore set upon heaven, is no more but a heart set up- 
on God, desiring" this full enjoyment : and surely a heart set 
upon God through Christ, is the truest evidence of saving 
grace. External actions are the easiest discovered ; but those 
of the heart are the surest evidences. When thy learning will 
be no good proof of thy grace ; when thy knowledge, tby du- 
ties, and thy gifts will fail thee, when arguments from thy 
tongue and thy hand may be confuted : then will this argument 
from the bent of thy heart prove thee sincere. Take a poor 
christian that, can scarce speak English about religion, that 
hath a weak understanding, a failing memory, a stammering 
tongue, yet his heart is set on God, he hath chosen him for his 
portion, his thoughts are on eternity, his desires there, his 
dwelling there ; he cries out, O that I were there ! be takes 
that day for a time of imprisonment, wherein he hath not taken 
one refreshing view of eternity. I had rather die in this man's 
condition, than in the case of him that hath the most eminent 
gifts, and is most admired for parts and duty, whose heart is 
not taken up with God. The man that Christ will find out at 
the last day, and condemn for want of a wedding-garment, will 
be be that wants this frame of heart. The question will not 
then be, how much you have known or talked ? but, how much 
have you loved, and where was your heart ? Why then, as 
you would have a sure testimony of the love of God, and a sure 
proof of your title to glory, labour to get your hearts above. 
God will acknowledge you love bim, when he sees your hearts 
are set upon him. Get but your hearts once truly in heaven, 
and without all question, yourselves will follow. If sin and 
Satan keep not thence your affections, they will never be able 
to keep away you** persons. 

2. Consider, a heavenly mind is a joyful mind : this is the 
nearest and the truest way to comfort : and without this you 
must needs be uncomfortable. Can a man be at the fire, and 
not be warm ? Or in the sunshine, and not have light ? Can 
your heart be in heaven, and not have comfort ? What could 
make such frozen uncomfortable christians, but living so far 
as they do from heaven ? And what makes others so warm in 
comforts, but their frequent access so near to God ! When 
the sun in the spring draws near our part of the earth, how 
do all things congratulate its approach ! The earth looks green 
and castelh off her mourning habit ; the trees shoot forth; the 



214 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

plants revive ; the birds sing ; the face of all things smiles up- 
on us, and all the creatures below rejoice. If we would but 
keep these hearts above, what a spriDg would be within us; 
and all our graces be fresh and green ! How would the face of 
our souls be changed, and all that is within us rejoice ! How 
should we forget our winter sorrows, and withdraw our souls 
from our sad retirements ! How early should we rise (as those 
birds in the spring) to sing the praise of our great Creator ! 

Christians ! get above ; believe it, that region is warmer 
than this below. Those that have been there have found it so, 
and those that have come thence have told us so ; and I doubt 
not but thou hast sometimes tried it thyself. I dare appeal to 
thy own experience : when is it that you have largest com- 
forts ? Is it not after such an exercise as this, when thou hast 
got up thy heart, and conversed with God, and talked with the 
inhabitants of the higher world, and viewed the mansions of 
the saints and angels, and filled thy soul with the fore-thoughts 
of glory ? If thou knowest by experience what this practice is, 

1 dare say thou knowest what spiritual joy is. If it be the 
countenance of God that fills us with joy, then they that most 
behold it, must be fullest of these joys. If you never tried 
this, nor lived this life of heavenly contemplation, 1 never 
wonder that you walk uncomfortably, and know not what the 
joy of the saints means : can you have comforts from God, and 
never think of him ? Can heaven rejoice you when you do not 
remember it ? Doth any thing in the world glad you, when you 
think not on it ? Whom should we blame then, that we are so 
void of consolation, but our own negligent unskilful hearts? 
God hath provided us a crown of glory, and promised to set it 
shortly on our heads, and we will not so much as think of it : 
he holdeth it out to us, and biddeth us behold and rejoice ; and 
we will not so much as look at it. What a perverse course is 
this, both against God aDd our own joys ! 

I confess, though in fleshly things the presenting a comfort- 
ing object is sufficient to produce an answerable delight, yet 
in spirituals we are more disabled : God must give the joy it- 
self, as well as afford us matter for joy : but yet withal, it must 
be remembered, that God doth work upon us as men, and in a 
rational way doth raise our comfort's : he enableth and exciteth 
us to mind these delightful objects, and from thence to gather 
our own comforts ; therefore he that is most skilful and pajn? 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 215 

fill in this gathering art, is usually the fullest of the spiritual 
•sweetness. It is by believing that we are filled with joy and 
peace; and no longer than we continue our believing. It is 
in hope that the saints rejoice, yea, in this hope of the glory of 
God : and no longer than they continue hoping. And here 
let me warn you of a dangerous snare, an opinion which will 
rob you of all your comfort : some think, if they should thus 
fetch in their own by believing and hoping, and work it out of 
scripture promises by their own thinking and studying, then 
it would be a comfort only of their own hammering out (as 
they say) and not the genuine joy of the Holy Ghost. A des- 
perate mistake, raised upon a ground that would overthrow 
almost all duty, as well as this ; which is their setting the 
workings of God's spirit and their own spirits in opposition, 
when their spirits must stand in subordination to God's : they 
are conjunct causes, co-operating to the producing of one 
and the same effect God's spirit workeih our comforts by 
setting our own spirits at work upon the promises, and raising 
our thoughts to the place of our comforts. As you would de- 
light a covetous man by shewing him money, or a voluptuous 
man with fleshly delights ; so God useth to delight his people 
by taking them as it were by the hand, and leading them into 
heaven, and shewing them himself, and their rest with him. 
God useth not to cast in our joys while we are idle, or taken 
up with other things. It is true, he sometimes doth it sudden- 
ly, but usually in the aforesaid order: and his sometimes sud- 
den, extraordinary casting of comfortifcg thoughts in our 
hearts, should be so far from hindering endeavours in a medi- 
tating way, that it should be a singular motive to quicken us 
to it ; even as a taste given us of some cordial, will make us 
desire and seek the rest. God feedeth not saints as birds do 
their young, bringing it to them, and putting it in their mouth, 
while they lie still in the nest, and only gape to receive it : but 
as he giveth to man the fruits of the earth, the increase of our 
land in corn and wine, while we plough and sow, and weed, 
and water, pnd dung, and dress, and then with patience ex- 
pect his blessing ; so doth be give the joys of the soul. Yet 
I deny not, that if any should think so to work out his own com- 
forts by meditation, as to attempt the work in his own strength, 
the work would prove to be like the workman, and the com- 
fort he would gather would be like both ; even mere vanity t 



216 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

even as the husbandman's labour without the sun, and rain, 
and blessing of God. 

So then ycu may easily see, that close meditation on the mat- 
ter and cause of your joy, is God's way to procure solid joy.-— 
For my part, if I should find my joy of another kind, 1 should be 
very prone to doubt of its sincerity. If 1 find a great deal 
of comfort, and know not how it came, nor upon what rational 
ground it was raised, nor what considerations feed and continue 
it, I should be ready to question whether this be from God. — 
Our love to God should not be like that of fond lovers, who lore 
violently, but they know not why. I think a christian's joy 
should be rational joy, and not to rejoice, and know not why. 
In some extraordinary case, God may cast in such an extraor- 
dinary kind of joy : yet it is not his usual way. And if you ob- 
serve the spirit of most uncomfortable christians, you will find 
the reason to be their expectation of such kind of joys : and ac- 
cordingly are their spirits variously tossed, and inconstantly tem- 
pered : when they meet with such joys, then tbey are cheerful 
and lifted up ; but because these are usually short-lived, there- 
fore they are straight as low as hell. And thus they are tossed 
as a vessel at sea, up and down, but still in extremes ; whereas, 
alas, God is most constant, Christ the same, heaven the same, 
and the promise the same ; and if we took the right course for 
fetching in our comfort from these, sure our comforts would be 
more settled and constant, though not always the same. Who- 
ever thou art therefore that readest these lines, I entreat thee 
in the name of the Lord, and as thou valuest the life of constant 
joy, and that good conscience which is a continual feast, that 
thou wouldst seriously set upon this work, and learn the art of 
heavenly-mindedness, and thou shalt find the increase an hun- 
dred fold, and the benefit abundantly exceed thy labour. 

3. Consider, a heart in heaven will be a most excellent pre- 
servative against temptations, and a powerful means to save 
the conscience from the wouuds of sin : God can prevent our 
sinning, though we be careless, and sometimes doth ; but this 
is not bis usual course ; nor is this our safest way to escape. 
When the mind is either idle : or ill employed, the devil needs 
not a greater advantage : if lie find but the mind empty, there 
is room for any thing that he will bring in ; but when he finds 
the heart in heaven, what hope that his motions should tajie ? 
Let him entice to any forbidden course, the 6oaJ will return 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 217 

Nehemiah's answer, 'I am doing a great work, and cannot 
come.' Neh. vi. 3. Several ways will this preserve us against 
temptation. First, By keeping the heart employed. Secondly, 
By clearing 1 the understanding", and confirming the will. Third- 
ly* By prepossessing the affections. Fourthly, By keeping us 
io the way of God's blessing. 

First, By keeping the heart employed : when we are idle, wc 
tempt the devil to tempt us ; as it is an encouragement to a 
thief, to see your doors open and nobody within ; and as we 
use to say, " Careless persons make thieves;" so it will en- 
courage Satan, to find your hearts idle : but when the heart 
is taken up with God, it cannot have time to hearken to temp- 
tations; it cannot have time to be lustful and wanton, ambi- 
tious or worldly. 

If you were but busied in your lawful callings, ) T ou would not 
be so ready to hearken to temptations: much less if you were 
busied above with God : Will you leave your plough and har- 
vest in the field ? Or leave the quenching of a fire in your 
houses, to run hunting of butterflies ? Would a judge rise, 
when he is sitting upon life and death, to go and play among 
the boys in the streets ? No more will a christian, when he is 
busy with God, give ear to the alluring charms of Satan. The 
love of God is never idle ; it worketh great things where it 
truly is ; and when it will not work, it is not love. Therefore 
being still thus working, it is still preserving. 

Secondly, A heavenly mind is freest from sin, because it is of 
clearest understanding in spiritual matters. A man that is 
much in conversing above, hath truer and livelier apprehen- 
sions of things concerning God and his soul, than any reading 
or learning can beget : though perhaps he may be ignorant in 
divers controversies, and matters that less concern salvation 
yet those truths which must establish his soul, and preserve 
him from temptation, he knows far better than the greatest 
scholars; he hath so deep an insight into the evil of sin, the 
vanity of the creature, the brutishness of sensual delights, 
that temptations have little power on him ; for these earthly 
vanities are Satan's baits, which with the clear-sighted, have 
lost their force. « In vain (saith Solomon) the net is spread 
in the sight of any bird.' And in vain doth Satan lay his snares 
to entrap the soul that plainly sees them. When the heavenly- 
mind is above with God, he may from thence discern every dan- 
T 



218 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST* 

ger that lies below : nay, if he did not discover the snare, yet 
were he likelier far to escape it than aDy others. A net or bait 
that is laid on the ground, is uniikety to catch the bird that 
files in the air ; while she keeps above, she is out of the dan* 
ger, and the higher, the safer ; so it is with us. Satan's temp- 
tations are laid on the earth ; earth is the place, and earth is 
the ordinary bait : how shall these ensnare the christian, who 
hath left the earth and walks with God ? 

Do you not sensiblj 7 perceive, that when your hearts are se- 
riously fixed on heaven, you become wiser than before ? Are 
not your understandings more solids and your thoughts more 
sober ? Have you not truer apprehensions of things than you 
had ? For my own part, if ever I be wise, it is when I have 
been much above, and seriously studied the life to come : me- 
thinks I find my understanding, after such contemplations, as 
much to differ from what it was before, as I before differed 
from a fool or an idiot : when my understanding is weakened 
and befooled with common employment, and with conversing 
long with the vanities below, methinks a few sober thoughts of 
my Father's house, and the blessed provision of his family in 
heaven, doth make me (with the prodigal) to come to myself 
again. Surely, when a christian withdraws himself from his 
earthly thoughts, and begins to converse with God in heaven, 
he is a Nebuchadnezzar, taken from the beasts of the field to 
the throne, and his understanding returneth to him again. O 
when a christian hath had but a glimpse of eternity,, and then 
looks down on the world again, how doth he say to his laughter, 
Thou art mad ! And to his vain mirth, What dost thou? How 
could he even tear his flesh, and take revenge on himself for 
his folly! How verily doth he think that there is no man in 
Bedlam so mad, as wilful sinners, and lazy betrayers of their 
own souls, and unworthy slighters of Christ and glory ! 

Do you not think (except men are stark devils) that it would 
be a harder matter to entice a man to sin, when he lies a dy- 
ing, than it was before ? If the devil or his instruments, should 
then tell him of a cup of sack, of merry company, or of a stage 
play, do you think he would then be so taken with the motion ? 
If he should then tell him of riches, or honours, or shew him 
cards, or dice, or a whore, would the temptation (think you) be 
as strong as before ? Would he not answer, Alas ! what is all 
this to me, who must presently appear before God, and give ac 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 219 

count of all my life, and straight-ways be in another world? — 
Why, if the apprehension of the nearness of eternity will work 
such strange effects upon the ungodly, and make them wiser 
than to be deceived so easily as they were wont to be in time 
of health ; what effects would it work in thee, if thou couldst 
always dwell in the views of God, and in lively thoughts of thine 
everlasting state? Surely, a believer, if he improve his faith, 
may have truer apprehensions of the life to come, in the time 
of his health, than an unbeliever hath at the hour of his death. 

Thirdly, a heavenly mind is fortified against temptations, be- 
cause the affections are prepossessed with the delights of anoth ■ 
er world. When the soul is not affected with good, though the 
understanding never so clearly apprehend the truth, it is easy 
for Satan to entice that soul. Mere speculations (be they nev- 
er so true) which sink not into the affections, are poor preserva- 
tives against temptations. He that loves most, and not he that 
knows most, will easiest resist the motions of sin. There is in 
a christian a kind of spiritual taste, whereby he knows these 
things, besides his mere reasoning power : the will doth as 
sweetly relish goodness, as the understanding doth truth ; and 
here lies much of a christian's strength. If you should dispute 
with a simple man, and labour to persuade him that sugar is 
not sweet, or that wormwood is not bitter ; perhaps you might 
with sophistry over argue his mere reason, but yet you could 
not persuade him against his sense ; whereas a man that hath 
lost his taste, is easier deceived for all his reason. So it is here. 
When thou hast had a fresh delightful taste of heaven, thou 
wilt not be so easily persuaded from it ; you cannot persuade 
a very child to part with his apple, while the taste of its sweet- 
ness is yet in its mouth. 

O that you would be persuaded to be much in feeding on 
the hidden manna, and to be frequently tasting the delights of 
heaven ! It is true, it is a great way off from our sense, but 
faith can reach as far as that. How would this raise thy resolu- 
tions, and make thee laugh at the fooleries of the world, and 
scorn to be cheated with such childish toys ! What if the deyi 
had set upon Paul when he was in the third heaven ? Could 
he then have persuaded his heart io the pleasures, or profits, 
or honours of the world ? Though the Israelites below may be 
.enticed to idolatry, and from eating and drinking to rise up to 
play ; yet Moses in the mount with God will not do so : and if 



?£0 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

tfaey had been where he was, and had but seen what he there 
saw, perhaps they would not so easily have sinned. O if we 
could keep our souls continually delighted with the sweetness 
above, with what disdain should we spit out the baits of sin ! 

Fourthly, Whilst the heart is set on heaven, a man is under 
God's protection : and therefore if Satan then assault him, God 
is more engaged for his defence. 

Let me entreat thee then, if thou be a man that is haunted 
ivith temptation (as doubtless thou art, if thou be a man) if 
t hou perceive thy danger, and wouldst fain escape it ; use 
much this powerful remedy, keep close with God by a heaven- 
ly mind ; and when the temptation comes, go straight to heav- 
en, and turn thy thoughts to higher things ; thou shalt find this 
a surer help than any other. Follow your business above 
with Christ, and keep } T our thoughts to their heavenly em- 
ployment, and you sooner will this way vanquish the tempta- 
tion, than if you argued or talked it out with the tempter. 

4. Consider, the diligent keeping of your hearts on heaven, 
will preserve the vigour of all your graces, and put life into 
your duties. It is the heavenly christian, that is the lively 
christian : it is our strangeness to heaven that makes us so 
dull : it is the end that quickens all the means; and the more 
frequently and clearly this end is beheld, the more vigorous 
will a!! our motions be. How doth it make men unweariedly 
5abour, and fearlessly venture, when they do but think of the 
gainful prize ! How will the soldier hazard his life, and the 
mariner pass through storms and waves ! How cheerfully do 
they compass sea and land, when they think of an uncertain 
perishing treasure ! O what life then would it put into a chris- 
tian's endeavours, if he would frequently think of his everlast- 
ing treasure ! We run so slowly, and strive so lazily, because 
we so little mind the prize. When a christian hath been tast- 
ing the hidden manna, and drinking of the streams of the par- 
adise of God, what life doth this put into him ! How fervent 
will his spirit be in prayer, when he considers that he prays for 
ne less than heaven ! 

Observe but the man who is much in heaven, and you shall 
see he is not like others ; there is somewhat of that which he 
hath seen above, appeareth in all his duty and conversation : 
nav, take but the same man immediately when he is returned 
from these views of bliss, and you may easily perceive he ex- 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 221 

eels himself. If he be a preacher, how heavenly are his sei> 
mons ! What clear descriptions, what high expressions hath he 
of that rest ! If he be a private christian, what heavenly con- 
ference, what heavenly prayers, what an heavenly carriage 
hath he ! May you not even hear in a preacher's sermons, or 
in the private duties of another, when they have been most 
above ? When Moses had been with God in the mount, it 
made his face shine, that the people could not behold him. If 
you would but set upon this employment, even so it would be 
with you : men would see the face of your conversation shine, 
and say, ' Surely he hath been with God V 

It is true, a heavenly nature goes before this heavenly em- 
ployment ; but yet the work will make it more heavenly : there 
must be life, before we can feel : but our life is continued and 
increased by feeding. Therefore, let me inform thee, if thou 
lie complaining of deadness and dullness, that thou canst not 
love Christ, nor rejoice in his love; that thou hast no life in 
prayer, nor any other duty, and yet never triedst this quicken- 
ing course, or at least art careless and inconstant in it : thou 
art the cause of thy own complaints ; thou dullest thine own 
heart ; thou deniest thyself that life which thou talkest of. Is 
not * thy life hid with Christ in God ?' Whither must thou go 
but to Christ for it ? And whither is that, but to heaven, where 
he is ? 'Thou wilt not come to Christ that thou mayest have 
life.' If thou wouldst have light and heat, why art thou then 
no more in the sunshine ? If thou wouldst have more of that 
grace which flows from Christ, why art thou no more with 
Christ for it ? Thy strength is in heaven, and thy life in heav- 
en, and there thou must daily fetch it, if thou wilt have it. For 
want of this recourse to heaven, thy soul is as a candle that is 
not lighted, and thy duties as a sacrifice which hath no fire. — 
Fetch one coal daily from this altar, and see if thy ©fferiag will 
not burn. Light thy candle at this flame, and feed it daily with 
oil from hence, and see if it will not gloriously shine : keep close 
to this reviving fire, and see if thy affections will not be warm. 
Thou bewailest thy want of love to God (and well thou mayest, 
for it is a heinous crime, a killing sin) why, lift up thy eye of 
faith to heaven, behold his beauty, contemplate his excellen- 
cies, and see whether his amiableness will not fire thv affec- 
tions, and his goodness ravish thy heart. As the eye doth in- 
cense the sensual affections, by gazing on alluring objects ; so 
T 2 



222 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

doth the eye of faith in meditation inflame our affections to- 
wards our Lord, by gazing on that highest beauty. Whoever 
thou art, that art a stranger to this employment, be thy parts 
and profession ever so great, let me tell thee, thou spendest thy 
life but in trifling or idleness ; thou seemest to live, but thou 
art dead : I may say of thee, as Seneca of idle Vacia, Sci, latere^ 
vivere, nestis; thou knowest how to lurk in idleness, but how 
to live, thou knowest not. And as the same Seneca would say, 
when he passed by that sluggard's dwelling, lbi situs est Vacia; 
so it may be said of thee, there lies such a one, but not there 
lives such a one, for thou spendest thy days liker to the dead 
than the living. One of Draco's laws to the Athenians was, 
That he who was convicted of idleness, should be put to death : 
thou dost execute this on thy own soul, whilst by thy idleness 
thou destroyest its life. 

Thou mayest many other ways exercise thy parts, but this is 
the way to exercise thy graces : they all come from God as 
their fountain, and lead to God as their end, and are exercised 
on God as their chief object : so that God is their all in all. — 
From heaven they come, and to heaven they will direct and 
move thee. And as exercise maintaineth appetite, strength 
and liveliness to the body ; so doth it also to the soul. Use 
limbs, and have limbs, is the known proverb. And use grace 
and spiritual life in these heavenly exercises, and you shall find 
it quickly cause their increase. The exercise of your mere 
abilities of speech will not much advantage your graces ; but 
the exercise of these heavenly gifts, will inconceivably help 
the growth of both : for as the moon is then most full and glori- 
ous, when it doth most directly face the sun ; so will your souls 
be both in gifts and graces when you most nearly view the face 
of God. This will feed your tongue with matter, and make 
you abound and overflow, both in preaching, praying and con- 
ferring. Besides, the fire which you fetch from heaven for 
your sacrifices, is no false or strange fire. As your liveliness 
will be much more ; so it will be also more sincere. 

The zeal which is kindled by your meditations on heaven, is 
aaost like to prove an heavenly zeal ; and the liveliness of the 
spirit which you fetch from the face of God, must needs be the 
divinest life. Some men's fervency is drawn only from their 
books, and some from stinging affliction, and some from the 
mouth of a moving minister, and some from the encouragement 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 223 

of an attentive auditory : but he that knows this way to hea- 
ven, and derives it daily from the pure fountain, shall have his 
soul revived with the water of life, and enjoy that quickening 
which is the saint's peculiar : by this faith thou inayest offer 
Abel's sacrifice, more excellent than that of common men, and 
by it obtain witness that thou art righteous, God testifying of 
thy gifts, Heb. xi. 4. When others are ready, as Baal's priests, 
to beat themselves, and cut their flesh, because their sacrifices 
will not burn : then if thou canst get but the spirit of Elia s, and 
in the chariot of contemplation soar aloft, till thou approachest 
near to the quickening spirit, thy soul and sacrifice will glori- 
ously flame, though the flesh and the world should cast upon 
them the water of all their enmity. Say not now, how shall we 
get so high ? Or v how can mortals. ascend to heaven? For faith 
hath wings, and meditation is its chariot ; its office is to make 
absent things as present. Do you not see how a little piece of 
glass, if it do but rightly face the sun, will so contract its beams 
and heat, as to set on fire that which is behind it, which with- 
out it would have received but little warmth ? Why thy faith is 
as the burning glass to thy sacrifice, and meditation sets it to 
face the sun : only take it not away too soon, but hold it there 
a while, and thy soul will feel the happy effect. 

If we could get into the holy of holies, and bring thence the 
name and image of God, and get it closed up in our hearts, this 
would enable us to work wonders ; every duty we performed 
would be a wonder ; and they that heard would be ready to 
say, Never man spake as this man speaketh. The spirit would 
possess us, as those flaming tongues, and make us every one 
speak (not in the variety of the confounded languages, but) in 
the primitive pure language of Canaan, the wonderful works of 
God. We should then be in every duty, whether prayer, ex- 
hortation, or brotherly reproof, as Paul was at Athens, his 
spirit was stirred within him : and should be ready to say, as 
Jeremiah did, Jer. xx. 9. * His word was in my heart as a 
burning fire shut up in my bones ; and 1 was weary with for- 
bearing, and 1 could not stay. 

Christian reader, art thou not thinking when thou seest a 
lively believer, and nearest his melting prayers, and ravishing 
discourse ; O how happy a mau is this ! O that my soul were in 
his state ! Why, 1 here direct and advise thee from God. Try 
this course, and set thy soul to this work, and thou sbaJt be in 



£24 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

as good a case. Wash thee frequently in this Jordan, and thy 
dead soul shall revive, and thou shalt know there is a God in 
Israel ; and that thou mayest lire a vigorous and joyous life, if 
thou neglect not thine own mercies. If thou truly value this 
strong and active frame of spirit, shew it by thy present at- 
tempting this heavenly exercise. Thou hast heard the way to 
obtain this life in thy soul, and in thy duties ; if thou wilt yet 
neglect it, blame thyself. 

But alas, the multitude of professors come to a minister just 
as Naaman came to Elias ; they ask us, how shall I overcome 
a hard heart, and get the strength and life of grace? But they 
expect that some ea y means shouid do it ; and think we should 
cure them with the very answer to their question, and teach 
them a way to be quickly well : but when they hear of a daily 
trading in heaven, and constaot meditation on the joys above ; 
this is a greater task than they expected, and they turn their 
backs as Naaman to Elias, or the young man on Christ. Will 
not preaching, and praying, and conference serve (say they) 
without this dwelling still in heaven ? 1 entreat thee, reader, 
beware of this folly ; fall to the work : the comfort of spiritual 
health will countervail all the trouble. It is but the flesh that 
repines, which thou knowest was never a friend to tby soul. 
If God had not set thee on some grievous work, shouldst thou 
not have done it for the life of thy soul ? How much more when 
he doth but invite thee to himself? 

5. Consider, the frequent believing views of glory are the 
most precious cordial in all afflictions. 1 . To sustain our spirits, 
and make our sufferings far more easy. 2. To stay us from re- 
pining. And 3. To strengthen our resolutions, that we forsake 
not Christ for fear of trouble. A man will more quietly en- 
dure the lancing of his sores, when he thinks on the ease that 
will follow. What then will not a believer endure, when he 
thinks of the rest to which it tendeth ? What if the way be nev- 
er so rough, can it be tedious if it lead to heaven ? O sweet 
sickness, sweet reproaches, imprisonments, or death, which is 
accompanied with these tastes of our future rest ! Believe it, 
thou wilt suffer heavily, thou wilt die most sadly, if thou hast 
not at hand the foretastes of this rest. Therefore as thou wilt 
then be ready with David to pray, * Be not far from me, for 
trouble is near :' so let it be thy chief care not to be far from 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 225 

God and heaven, when trouble is near, and ' thou wilt find him 
a very present help in trouble.' 

All sufferings are nothing to us, so far as we have the fore- 
sight of this salvation. No bolts, nor bars, nor distance of place 
can shut out these supporting joys, because they cannot con- 
line our faith and thoughts, although they may confine our 
flesh. Christ and faith are spiritual, and therefore prisons and 
banishments cannot hinder their intercourse. Even when 
persecution and fear hath shut the door, Christ can come in, 
and stand in the midst, and say ' Peace be unto you.' It is not 
the place that gives the rest, but the presence and beholding of 
Christ in it. If the Son of God will walk with us in it, we may 
walk safely in the midst of those flames, which shall devour 
those that cast us in : why then, keep thy soul above with 
Christ ; be as little as may be out of his compan} 7 , and then 
all conditions will be alike to thee. What made ' Moses 
choose affliction with the people of God, rather than enjoy 
the pleasures of sin for a season ? He had respect to the re- 
compense of reward.' Yea, our Lord himself did fetch his 
encouragements to sufferings from the foresight of his glory : 
1 for to this end he both died and rose, and revived, that he 
might be Lord both of the dead and living,' Rom. xiv. 0, * Even 
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, for the joy that was 
set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is 
set down at the right hand of the throne of God.' 

6. Consider, it is he that hath his conversation in heaven^ 
who is the profitable christian to all about him : with him you 
may take sweet counsel, and go up to the celestial house of 
God. When a man is in a strange country, far from home, 
how glad is he of the company of one of his own nation ! How 
delightful is it to them to talk of their country, of their ac- 
quaintance, and the affairs of their home ! Why, with a heav- 
enly christian thou mayest have such discourse ; for he hath 
been there in the spirit, and can tell thee of the glory and rest 
above. To discourse with able men, of clear understandings, 
about the difficulties of religion, yea. about languages and sci- 
ences, is boih pleasant and profitable; but nothing to this 
heavenly discourse of a believer O how refreshing are his 
expressions ! How his words pierce the heart ! How they 
transform the hearers ! ' How doth his doctrine drop as the 
rain, and his speech distil as the &ew> as the small rain upon 



■>?. 



226 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass ; while his 
tongue is expressing the name of the Lord, and ascribing great- 
ness to his God ! ' This is the man who is as J ob, * when the candle 
of God did shine upon his head, and when by his light he walked 
through darkness : when the secret of God was upon his taber- 
nacle, and when the Almighty was yet with him : then the ear 
that heard him, did bless him ; and the eye that saw him, gave 
witness to him.' Job xxix. 3, 4, 5, 11. Happy the people that 
have an heavenly minister : happy the children and servants 
that have an heavenly father or master ; happy the man that 
hath heavenly associates ; if they have but hearts to know their 
happiness. This is the companion, who will watch over thy 
ways, who will strengthen thee when thou art weak ; who will 
cheer thee when thou art drooping, and comfort thee with the 
same comforts, wherewith he halh been so often comforted 
himself. This is he that will be blowing the spark of thy spir- 
itual life, and always drawing thy soul to God, and will be say- 
ing to thee, as the Samaritan woman, ' Come and see one that 
hath told me all that ever I did,' one that hath ravished my 
heart with his beauty, one that hath loved our souls to the 
death : is not this the Christ ? Is not the knowledge of God and 
him eternal life ? Is it not the glory of the saints to see his glo- 
ry ? If thou travel with this man on the way, he will be direct- 
ing and quickening thee in thy journey to heaven : if thou be 
buying or selling, or trading with him in the world, he will be 
counselling thee to lay out for the inestimable treasure : if thou 
wrong him, he can pardon thee, remembering that Christ hath 
not only pardoned great offences to him, but will also give him 
this invaluable portion. This is the christian of the right 
stamp; this is the servant that is like his Lord ; these be the 
innocent that save the island, and all about them are the better 
where they dwell. I fear the men 1 have described are very 
rare, but were it not for our shameful negligence, such men 
might we all be ! 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. £27 

CHAPTER III. 

CONTAINING SOME HINDERANCE8 OP HEAVENL7-MINDEDNESS. 

As thou valuest the comforts of a heavenly conversation, I 
here charge thee from God, to beware most carefully of these 
impediments. 

1 . The first is, a living in a known sin. Observe this. — 
What havoc will this make in thy soul ! O the joys that this 
hath destroyed ! The blessed communion with God, that this 
hath interrupted ! The ruins it hath made amongst men's 
graces ! The duties that it hath hindered ! And above all oth- 
ers, it is an enemy to this great duty. 

1 desire thee in the fear of God, stay here a little, and search 
thy heart. Art thou one that hath used violence with thy con- 
science ? Art thou a wilful neglecter of known duties, either 
public or private ? Art thou a slave to thine appetite, in eating 
or drinking, or to any other commanding sense ? Art thou a 
seeker of thine own esteem, and a man that must needs have 
men's good opinion ? Art thou a peevish or a passionate person, 
ready to take fire at every word, or every supposed slight ? Art 
thou a deceiver of others in thy dealing: or one that hath set 
thyself to rise in the world? Not to speak of greater sins, which 
all take notice of. If this be thy case, 1 dare say, heaven and 
thy soul are very great strangers ; I dare say, thou art seldom 
with God, and there is little hope it should be better as long as 
thou continuest in these transgressions : these beams in thine 
eye will not suffer thee to look to heaven ; these will be a cloud 
between thee and God. How shouldst thou take comfort from 
heaven, who taketh so much pleasure in the lusts of the flesh ? 
Every wilful sic will be to thy comforts as water to fire ; when 
thou thinkest to quicken them, this will quench them ; when thy 
heart begins to draw near to God, this will presently fill thee 
with doubting. Besides, it doth utterly indispose thee, and dis- 
able thee to this work ; when thou shouldst wind up thy heart 
to heaven, it is biased another way ; it is entangled, and can no 
more ascend in divine meditation, than the bird can fly whose 
wings are dipt, or that is taken in the snare. Sin doth cut the 
very sinews of the soul ; therefore I say of this heavenly life as 
Mr. Bolton saith of prayer, ' Either it will make thee leave sin- 
king, or sin will make thee leave it/' and that quickly too : for 



^Jb THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

these cannot continue together. If heaven and hell can meet 
together, then mayest thou live in thy sin, and in the tastes of 
glory. If therefore thou find thyself guilty, never doubt but this 
is the cause that estrangeth thee from heaven ; and take heed 
lest it keep out thee, as it keeps out thy heart.- Yea, if thou be 
a man that hitherto hast escaped, and knowest no reigning sin 
in thy soul, yet let this warning move thee to prevention, and 
stir np a dread of this danger in thy spirit, especially resolve to 
keep from the occasions of sin, and, as much as possible, out of 
the way of temptations. 

2. A second hinderance carefully to be avoided, is an earth- 
ly mind: for you may easily conceive, that this cannot stand 
with an heavenly mind. God and mammon, earth and hearen, 
cannot both have the delight of thy heart. This makes thee like 
Anselnrs bird, with a stone tied to the foot, which as oft as she 
took Sight, did pluck her to the earth again. If thou be a man 
that hast fancied to thyself, some happiness to be found on earth, 
and beginnestto taste a sweetness in gain, and to aspire after 
an higher estate, and art driving on thy design ; believe it, thou 
art marching with thy back upon Christ, and art posting apace 
from this heavenly life. Hath not the world that from thee, 
which God hath from the believer ? When he is blessing him- 
self in God, and rejoicing in hope of the glory to come; then 
thou art blessing thyself in thy prosperity. 

It may be thou boldest on thy course of duty, and prayest as 
oft as thou didst before ; it may be tfeou keepest in with good 
ministers, and with good men, and seemest as forward in reli- 
gion as ever : but what is all this to the purpose ? Mock not thy 
soul, man ; for God will not be mocked. Thine earthly mind 
may consist with thy common duties ; but it cannot consist with 
this heavenly duty. I need not tell thee this, if thou wouldst 
not be a traitor to thy own soul : thou knowest thyself how sel- 
dom and cold, how cursory and strange thy thoughts have been 
of the joys hereafter, ever since thou didst trade so eagerly for 
the world. 

Methinks I even perceive thy conscience stir now, and tell 
thee plainly , that this is thy case : hear it, man ! O hear it now ; 
lest thou hear it in another manner when thou wouldst be full 
loth. O the cursed madness of many that seem to be religious ! 
wbo thrust themselves into the multitude of employments, and 
think they can never have business enough, till they are so 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 2t9 

loaded with labours, and clogged with cares, that their souls 
are as unfit to converse with God, as a man to walk with a moun- 
tain on his back. And when all is done, and they have lost that 
heaven they might have had upon earth, they take up a few 
rotten arguments to prove it lawful, and then they think that 
they have salved all. They miss not the pleasures of this 
heavenly life, if they can but quiet their consciences, while 
they fasten upon lower and baser pleasures. 

For thee, O christian I who has tasted of these pleasures, I 
advise thee, as thou valuest their enjoyment, as ever thou 
wouldst taste of them any more, take heed of this gulph of an 
earthly mind : For if once thou comest to this, ' that thou wilt 
be rich, thou fallest into temptation, and a snare, and into di- 
vers foolish and hurtful lusts.' Keep these things as thy upper 
garments still loose about thee, that thou mayest lay them by 
whenever there is cause; but let God and glory be next thy 
heart, yea, as the very blood and spirit by which thou livest : 
still remember that of the Spirit, ' The friendship of the world is 
enmity with God ; whosoever therefore will be a friend of the 
world, is the enemy of God.' And * love not the world, nor 
'the things in the world : if any man love the world, the love of 
the Father is not in him.' This is plain dealing; and happy 
he that faithfully receives it. 

3. A third hinderance of which 1 must advise thee to beware, 
is, the company of ungodly and sensual men. Not that I would 
dissuade thee from necessary converse, or from doing them 
any office of love : nor would I have thee conclude them to be 
dogs and swine, that so thou mayest evade the duty of reproof ; 
nor yet to judge them such at all, before thou art certain they 
are such indeed. 

But it is the unnecessary society of ungodly men, and famil- 
iarity with unprofitable companions, though they be not so ap- 
parently ungodly, that I dissuade you from. It is not only the 
open profane, the swearer, the drunkard, that will prove hurt- 
ful to us ; but dead-hearted formalists, or persons merely civil 
and moral, or whose conference is empty, unsavoury, and bar- 
ren, may much divert our thoughts from heaven. As mere 
idleness, and forgetting God, will keep a soul as certainly from 
heaven, as a profane, licentious, fleshly life r so also will use- 
less company as surely keep our hearts from heaven, as the 
company of men more dissolute and profane. Alas ! our dull- 



230 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST* 

ness and backwardness is such, that we have need of the most 
constant and powerful helps : a clod, or a stone that lies on the 
earth is as prone to arise and fly in the air, as our hearts are to 
move towards heaven. You need not hold them from flying up 
to the skies ; it is sufficient that you do not help them. If our 
spirits have not great assistance, they may easily be kept from 
flying aloft, though they never should meet with the least im- 
pediment. O think of this in the choice of your company : 
when your spirits need no help to lift them up, but as the flames 
you are always mounting upward, and carrying with you all 
that is in your way, then you may indeed be less careful of 
your company ; but till then be careful therein. As it is re- 
ported of a lord that was near his death, and the doctor that 
prayed with him read over the litany, ' For all women la- 
bouring with child, for all sick persons, and young children,' &c. 
< From lightning and tempest ; from plague, pestilence and fa- 
mine ; from battle and murder, and from sudden death.' Alas ! 
saith he, what is this to me, who must presentlyfdie ? So mayest 
thou say of such men's conference ; alas ! what is this to me, 
who must shortly be in rest ? What will it advantage thee to a 
life with God, to hear where the fare is such a day, or how the 
market goes, or what weather it is, or is like to be, or when the 
moon changed, or what news is stirring? What will it conduce 
to the raising thy heart God-ward, to hear that this is an able 
minister, or that an able christian, or that this was an excellent 
sermon, or that is an excellent book ; to hear a discourse of 
baptisms, ceremonies, the order of God's decrees, or other such 
controversies of great difficulty, and less importance ? Yet this, 
for the most part, is the sweetest discourse that you are likely 
to have of a formal dead-hearted professor. If thou hadst new- 
ly been warming thy heart with the joys above, would not this 
discourse quickly freeze it again ? I appeal to the judgment of 
any man that hath tried it, and maketh observations on the 
frame of his spirit. 

4. A fourth hinderance to heavenly conversation, is, disputes 
about lesser truths, and especially when a man's religion lies 
only in his opinions ; a sure sign of an unsanctified soul. If sad 
examples be regarded, I need say the less upon this. It is 
legibly written in the faces of thousands ; it is visible in the 
complexion of our deceased nation. They are men least ac- 
quainted with a heavenly life, who are the violent disputers 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 231 

about the circumstantials of religion : he whose religion is all 
in his opinions, will be most frequently and zealously speaking 
his opinions : and he whose religion lies in the knowledge and 
love of God in Christ, of that time when he shall enjoy God and 
Christ. As the body doth languish in consuming fevers, when 
the native heat abates within, and an unnatural heat inflaming 
the external parts succeeds ; so when the zeal of a christian 
doth leave the internals of religion, and fly to externals, or in- 
ferior things, the soul must needs consume and languish. — • 
Yea, though you were sure your opinions were true, yet when 
the chief of your zeal is turned thither, and the chief of your 
conference there laid out, the life of grace decays within. 

Therefore let me advise you thai aspire after this joyous life, 
spend not your thoughts, your time, your zeal, or your speech- 
es, upon quarrels that less concern your souls : but when oth- 
ers are feeding on husks or shells, or on this heated food which 
will buro their lips f*r »o?r!er tfesn warm and strengthen their 
Learts ; then do you feed on the joys above. I could wish you 
were all understanding men, able to defend every truth of God ; 
but still 1 would have the chief to be chiefly studied, and none 
to shoulder out your thoughts of eternity : the least contro- 
verted points are usually most weighty, and of most necessary 
use to our souls. 

5. As you value the comforts of a heavenly life, take heed of 
a proud and lofty spirit. There is such an antipathy between 
this sin and God, that thou wilt never get thy heart near him, 
as long as this prevaileth in it. if it cast the angels from heav- 
en that were in it, it must needs keep thy heart estranged from 
it. If it cast our first parents out of paradise, and separated 
between the Lord and us, it must needs keep our hearts from 
paradise, and increase the cursed separation from our God.— 
The delight of God is an hutnble soul, even him that is contrite, 
and trembleth at his word : and the delight of an humble soul 
is in God : and sure where there is mutual delight, there will 
be freest admittance, and heartiest welcome, and most frequent 
converse. Well then, art thou a man of worth in thine own 
eyes? And very tender of thine esteem with others ? Art thou 
one that much valuest applause and feelest delight when thou 
hearest of thy great esteem with men ; and art dejected when 
thou hearest that men slight thee ? Dost thou love those most 
who best honour thee ; and doth thy heart bear a grudge at 



232 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

those that thou thinkest undervalue thee ? Wilt thou not be 
brought to shame thyself, by humble confession when thou hast 
sinned against God, or injured thy brother? Art thou one that 
honourest the rich? And thinkest thyself somebody if they 
value and own thee? But lookest strangely at the poor, and 
art almost ashamed to be their companion ? Art thou unac- 
quainted with the deceitful cess and wickedness of thy heart ? 
Or knowest thyself to be vile only by reading, not by feeling 
thy vileness? Art thou readier to defend thyself and maintain 
thine innocency, than to accuse thyself, or confess t'uy fault ? 
Canst thou hardly hear a close reproof, or plain dealing, with- 
out difficulty and distaste ? Art thou readier in thy discourse to 
teach than to learn : and to dictate to others, than to hearken 
to their instructions ? Art thou bold and confident of thy own 
opinions, and little suspicious of the weakness of thy under- 
standing ? but a slighter of the judgment of all that are against 

thee? Is ^" <^'rit more disoosed to command than to obey? 
— — j _ r ___. — _ ,«_„„_ 

Art thou ready to censure the doctrine of thy teacnere, i UC ac- 
tions of thy rulers, and the persons of thy brethren ? and to 
think, if thou wert a judge, thou wouldst be more just ; or if 
thou wert a minister, thou wouldst be more fruitful and more 
faithful ? If these symptoms be in thy heart, beyond doubt thou 
art a proud person. Thou art abominably proud ; there is too 
much of hell abiding in thee, for thee to have any acquaintance 
at heaven ; thy soul is too like the devil, to have any familiari- 
ty with God. 

I entreat you be very jealous of your souls in this point : there 
is nothing will more estrange you from God : 1 speak the more 
of it, because it is the most common and dangerous sin, and 
most promoting the great sin cf infidelity : you would little 
think what humble carriage, what exclaiming against pride, 
what self-accusing may stand with this devilish sin of pride. 
O christian, if thou wouldst live continually in the presence of 
thy Lord, and lie in the dust, he would thence take thee up: 
descend first with him into the grave, and thence thou mayest 
ascend with him to glory. Learn of him to be meek and lowly, 
and then thou mayest taste of this rest to thy soul. Thy soul 
else will be ' as the troubled sea, which cannot rest ;' and in- 
stead of these sweet delights in God, thy pride will fill thee with 
perpetual disquietude. 

6. Another impediment to this heavenly life is, laziness, and 
•■ilotbfuloess of spirit : aDd 1 verily think for knowing men. 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 233 

there is nothing: hinders more than this. If it were only the 
exercise of the body, the moving of the lips, the binding of the 
knee ; then men would as commonly step to heaven, as they go 
a few miles to visit a friend : yea, if it were to spend our days 
in uumbering beads, and repeating certain words and prayers, 
or in the outward parts of duties commanded by God, yet it 
were comparatively easy : further, if it were only in the exer- 
cise of parts and gifts, it were easier to be heavenly- minded. 
But it is a "work more difficult than all this: to separate our 
thoughts and affections from the world ; to draw forth all our 
graces in their order, and exercise each on its proper object, to 
hold them to this, till the work doth thrive and prosper in their 
hands ; this is the difficult task. Heaven is above thee, the 
way is upwards ; dost thou think, who art a feeble sinner, to 
travel daily this steep ascent without a great deal of labour and 
resolution ? Canst thou get that earthly heart to heaven, and 
bring that backward mind to God, while thou liest still, and 
takest thine ease ? If lying down at the foot of the hill, and 
looking toward the top, and wishing we were there, would 
serve the turn, then we should have daily travellers for heav- 
en. But * the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the 
violent take it by force. 5 There must be violence used to get 
the first fruits, as well as to get the full possession. Dost thou 
not feel it so, though I should not tell thee ? Will thy heart get 
upwards except thou drive it ? Dost thou find it easy to dwell 
in the delights above? It is true the work is sweet, and no 
condition on earth so desirable ; but therefore it is that our 
hearts are so backward ; especially in the beginning, till we 
are acquainted with it. O how many who can easily bring 
theii hearts to ordinary duties, as reading, hearing, praying, 
conferring, could never yet in all their lives, bring them, and 
keep them to a heavenly contemplation one half hour togeth- 
er ! Consider here reader, as before the Lord, whether this be 
not thine own case. Thou hast known that heaven is all thy 
hopes ; thou knowest thou must shortly be turned hence, and 
that nothing below can yield thee rest : thou knowest also that 
a strange heart, a seldom and careless thinking of heaven, can 
fetch but little comfort thence : and dost thou yet for all this? 
let slip thy opportunities, when thou shouldst walk above, and 
live with God ? Dost thou commend the sweetness of an heav- 
enly life, and yet didst never once try it thyself? But as the 
v 2 



234 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST, 

sluggard that stretched himself on his bed, and cried, O that 
this were working ! so dost thou live at thy ease, and say, O that 
1 could get my heart to heaven ! How many read books and 
hear sermons, in expectation to hear of some easy course, or 
to meet with a shorter cut to comforts, than ever they are like 
to find? And if they can hear of none from the preachers of 
truth, they will snatch it with rejoicing from the teachers of 
falsehood ; and presently applaud the excellency of the doc- 
trine, because it hath fitted their lazy temper ; and think there 
is no other doctrine wiil comfort the soul, because it will not 
comfort it with hearing and looking on. And while they pre- 
tend enmity only to the law, they oppose the easier conditions 
of the gospel, and cast off the burden which all must bear that 
find rest to their souls : the Lord of light, and Spirit of comfort, 
shew these men in time, a surer way for lasting comfort. It 
was an established law among the Argi, That if a man were 
perceived to be idle and lazy, he must give an account before 
the magisirate, how he came by bis victuals and maintenance t 
and sure when 1 see these men lazy in the use of God's appoint- 
ed means for comfort, 1 cannot but question how they came by 
their comforts: I would they would examine it thoroughly 
themselves ; for God will require an account of it from them, 
idleness, and not improving the truth in painful duty, is the 
common cause of men's seeking comfort from error ; even as 
the people of Israel, when they had no comfortable answer 
from God, because of their own sin and neglect, would run to 
seek it from the idols of the heathens : so when men are false- 
hearted, and the Spirit of truth denies them comfort, because 
they deny him obedience, they will seek it from a lying spirit. 
IVly advice to such a lazy sinner, is this : as thou art convict- 
ed that this work is necessary to thy comfort, so resolvedly set 
upon it : if thy heart draw back, and be undisposed, force it on 
with the command of reason ; and if thy reason begin to dis- 
pute the work, force it with producing the command of God : 
and quicken it with the consideration of thy necessity, and the 
other motives before propounded : and let the inforcements 
that brought thee to the work, be still in thy mind to quicken 
thee in it. Do not let such an incomparable treasure lie be- 
fore thee, while thou liest still with thy hand in thy bosom : let 
not thy life be a continual vexation, which might be a continu- 
al feast, and all because thou wilt lot be at the pains'. Whefi 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 23$ 

thou hast once tasted the sweetness of it, and a little used thy 
heart to the work, thou wilt find the pains thou takest abun- 
dantly recompensed. Only sit not still with a disconsolate 
spirit, while comforts grow before thine eyes. Neither is it a 
few formal, lazy, running- thoughts, that will fetch thee this 
consolation from above : no more than a few lazy formal words 
will prevail with God instead of fervent prayer. 1 know Christ 
is the fountain, and 1 know this, as every other gift, is of God : 
but yet if thou ask my advice, how to obtain these waters of 
consolation ; I must tell thee, there is something also for thee 
to do : the gospel hath its conditions, and works, though not 
such impossible ones, as the law ; Christ hath his yoke and his 
burden, though easy, and thou must take it up, or thou wilt 
never find rest to thy soul. I know so far as you are spiritual, 
you need not all this striving and violence, but that is but in 
part, and in part you are carnal ; and as long as it is so, there 
is no talk of ease. It was the Parthians' custom, that none 
must give their children any meat in the morning, before they 
saw the sweat on their faces : and you shall find this to be God's 
most usual course, not to give his children the taste of his de- 
lights, till they begin to sweat in seeking after them. There- 
fore lay them both together, and judge whether an heavenly 
life, or thy case be better; and make the choice accordingly. 
Yet this let me say, thou needest not expend thy thoughts more 
than now thou dost; it is but only to employ them better: I 
press thee not to busy thy mind much more than thou dost. 9 
but to busy it upon better and more pleasant objects. Employ 
but so many serious thoughts every day, upon the excellent 
glory of the life to come, as thou now employest on the affairs 
in the world : nay, as thou daily losest on vanities, and thy 
heart will be at heaven in a short space. 

7. ft is also a dangerous hinderance, to content ourselves 
with the mere preparatives to this heavenly life, while we are 
strangers to the life itself: when we take up with the mere 
studies of heavenly things, and the notions and thoughts of 
them in our brain, or the talking of them with one another, as 
if this were all that makes us heavenly people. There is none 
in more danger of this snare, than those that are much in pub- 
lic duty, especially preachers of the gospel. O how easily may 
they be deceived here, while they do nothing more than read 
cf heaven, and study of heaven, and preach of heaven, and 



236 TffE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

pray, and talk of heaven ! What, is not this the heavenly life? 
O that God would reveal to our hearts the danger of this snare 1 
Alas, all this is but mere preparation : this is not the life we 
speak of, though it is a help thereto. I entreat every one of my 
brethren in the ministry, that they search and watch against 
this temptation : this is but gatheriug the materials, and not 
the erecting the building : this is but gathering m&nna for 
others, not eating and digesting it ourselves : as he that sits at 
home may study geography, and draw most exact descriptions 
of countries, and yet never see them, nor travel toward them; 
so may you describe to others the joys of heaven, and yet nev- 
er come near it in your own hearts : if you should study of 
nothing but heaven while you lived, and preach of nothing but 
heaven to your people, yetmightyour own hearts be strangers 
to it : we are under a more subtle temptation than other men 
to draw us from this heavenly life : if our employments lay at a 
greater distance from heaven, we should not be so apt to be 
thus deluded : but when we find ourselves employed upon no- 
thing else, we are easier drawn to take up here. Studying and 
preaching of heaven is more like to an heavenly life, than think- 
ing and talking of the world is, and the likeness it is that may 
deceive us : this is to die the most miserable death, even to 
famish ourselves, because we have bread on our tables, and to 
die for thirst while we draw water for others : thinking it 
enough that we have daily to do with it, though we never 
drink it. 



CHAPTER IV. 

SOME GENERAL HELPS TO HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS. 

Having thus shewed tbee what hinderances will resist thee 
in the work, I shall now lay down some positive helps. But 
first, 1 expect that thou resolve against the fore- mentioned im- 
pediments, that thou read them seriously, and avoid them faith- 
fully, or else thy labour will be all in vain ; thou dost but go 
about to reconcile light and darkness, Christ and Belial, heav- 
en and hell in tny spirit. I must tell thee also, that 1 expect 
thy promise, faithfully to set upon the helps which I prescribe 
thee: and that iht reading of them will not bring heaven into 
thy heart, but in their constant practice the Spirit will do it. 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 237 

As thou valuest then these foretastes of heaven, make con- 
science of performing these following duties : 

1. Know heaven to be the only treasure, and labour to know 
what a treasure it is : be convinced that thou hast no other 
happiness, and be convinced what happiness is there : if thou 
dost not soundly believe it to be the chief good, thou wilt nev- 
er set thy heart upon it ; and this conviction must sink into 
thy affections : for if it be only a notion, it will have little ope- 
ration. 

2. Labour as to know heaven to be the only happiness, so 
also to be thy happiness. Though the knowledge of excellen- 
cy and suitableness may stir up that love which worketh by 
desire, yet there must be the knowledge of our interest or pro- 
priety to the setting at work our love of complacency. We 
may confess heaven to be the best condition, though we despair 
of enjoying it ; and we may desire and seek it, if we see the 
obtainment to be but probable ; but we can never delightfully 
rejoice in it, till we are persuaded of our title to it. What 

comfcW is it, to a man that is i^S! t0 see the rich attire of 
others ? Or, to a man that hath not a bit to put in his mouth, to 
see a feast which he must not taste of? v/hat delight hath a 
man that hath not a house to put his head in, to see the sumptu- 
ous buildings of others ? Would not all this rather increase his 
anguish, and make him more sensible of his misery ? So, for a 
man to know the excellencies of heaven, and not to know 
wbettier he shall ever enjoy them, may well raise desire to 
seek it, but it will raise but little joy and content. 

3. Another help to the foretaste of rest is this : labour to ap- 
prehend how near it is : think seriously of its speedy approach. 
That which we think is near at hand, we are more sensible of 
than that which we behold at a distance. When we hear of 
war or famine in another country, it troubleth us not so much ; 
or if we hear it prophesied of a long time hence, so if we hear 
of plenty a great way off, or of a golden age that shall fall out, 
who knows when, this never rejoiceth us. But if judgments or 
mercies draw near, then they affect us. This makes men 
think on heaven so insensibly, because they conceit it at a 
great distance : they look on it as twenty, or thirty, or forty 
years off; and this it is that dulls their sense. As wicked men 
are fearless and senseless of judgment, because the sentence is 
not speedily executed ; so are the good deceived of tjieir com- 



238 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST.. 

forts, by supposing them farther off than they are. How much 
better were it to receive the sentence of death in ourselves, 
and to look on eternity as near at hand ? Surely, reader, thou 
standest at the door, and hundreds of diseases are ready waiting 
to open the door and let thee in. Are not the thirty or forty 
years of thy life that are past, quickly gone ? Are they not a 
very little time when thou lookest back on them ? And will not 
all the rest be shortly so too ? Do not days and nights come 
very thick ? Dost thou not feel that building of flesh to shake, 
and perceive thy house of clay to totter ? Look on thy glass, 
see how it runs : look on thy watch, how fast it goeth ; what a 
short moment is between us and our rest ; what a step is it 
from hence to everlastingness I While 1 am thinking and writ- 
ing of it, it hasteth near, and I am even entering into it before 
I am aware. While thou art reading this, it posteth on, and 
thy life will be gone as a tale that is told. Mayest thou not 
easily foresee thy dying time, and look upon thyself as ready to 
depart ? It is but a few days till thy friends §hai] lay thee ia the 
grays, and Others (Jo the like for them. If you verily believed 
you should die to-morrow, how seriously would you think of 
he°.ven to-night ! The true apprehensions of the nearness of 
eternity, doth make men's thoughts of it quick and piercing ; 
put life iato their fears and sorrows, if they be unfit: and into 
their desires and joys, if they have assurance of its glory. 

4. Another help to this is, to be much in serious discoursing 
of it, especially with those that can speak from their hearts, It 
is pity (saith Mr. Bolton) that christians should ever meet to- 
gether, without some talk of their meeting in heaven : it is 
pity so much precious time is spent in vain discourses and use- 
less disputes, and not a sober word of heaven. Mcthinks we 
should meet together on purpose to warm our spirits with dis- 
coursing of our rest. To hear a minister or private christian 
set forth that glorious state, with power and life from the prom- 
ises of the gospel, methinks should make us say, as the two dis* 
ciples, ' Did not our hearts burn within us, while he was open* 
ing to us the scripture ?■' While he was opening to us the win- 
dows of heaven ? Get then together, fellow-christians, and talk 
of the affairs of your country and kingdom, and comfort one 
another with such words. This may make our hearts revive 
within us, as it did Jacob's to bear the message that called him 
to Goshen, and to see the chariots that should bring him to 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 239 

Joseph. O that we were furnished with skill and resolution to 
turn the stream of men's common discourse to these more sub- 
lime and precious things ! And when men begin to talk of 
things unprofitable, that we could tell how to put in a word for 
heaven. 

5. Another help is this ; make it thy business in every duty, 
to wind up thy affections nearer heaven. A man's attainments 
from God are answerable to his own desires and ends : that 
which he sincerely seeks he finds ; God's end in the institution 
of his ordinances was, that they be as so many stepping-stones 
to our rest, and as the stairs by which (in subordination to 
Christ) we may daily ascend unto it in our affections : let this 
be thy end in using them, as it was God's end in ordaining 
them ; and doubtless they will not be unsuccessful. Men 
that are separated by sea and land, can yet, by letters, 
carry on great trades, even to the value of their whole 
estate : and may not a christian in the wise improvement 
of duties, drive on this happy trade for rest ? Come not 
therefore with any lower ends to duties : renounce familiarity, 
customariness and applause. When thou kneelest down in se- 
cret or public prayer, let it be in hope to get thy heart nearer 
God before thou risest off thy knees : when thou openest thy 
bible or other books, let it be with this hope, to meet with some 
passage of divine truth, and some such blessings of the Spirit 
with it, as may raise thine affections nearer heaven : when 
thou art setting thy foot out of thy door to go to the public wor- 
ship, say, 1 hope to meet with somewhat from God that may 
raise my affections before 1 retura ; I hope the Spirit will give 
me the meeting, and sweeten my heart with those celestial de- 
lights ; 1 hope that Christ will appear to me in the way, and 
shine about me with light from heaven, and let me hear his in- 
structing and reviving voice, and cause the scales to fall from 
mine eyes, that I may see more of that glory than 1 ever yet 
saw ; I hope before I return to my house, my Lord will take 
my heart in hand, and bring it within the view of rest, and set 
it before his Father's presence, that I may return as the shep- 
herds from the heavenly vision, glorifing and praising God. — 
Remember also to pray for thy teacher, that God would put 
some divine message into his mouth which may leave an heav- 
enly relish on thy spirit. 



£40 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTIKG REST. 



If these were our ends, and this our course, when we set to 
duty, we should not be so strange as we are to heaven. 

6. Another help is this ; make an advantage of every object 
thou seest, and of every passage of Divine Providence, and of 
every thing that befals thee in thy labour and calling, to mind 
thy soul of its approaching rest. As all providences and crea- 
tures are means to our rest, so do they point us to that as their 
end. Every creature hath the name of God and of our final 
rest written upon it, which a considerate believer may as truly 
discern, as he can read upon a hand in a cross- way the name 
of the town or city it points to. This spiritual use of creatures 
and providences is God's great end in bestowing them on man ; 
and he that overlooks this end, must needs rob God of his chief 
praise, and deny him the greatest part of his thanks. This re- 
lation that our present mercies have to our great eternal mer- 
cies, is the very quintessence and spirit of all these mercies ; 
therefore do they lose the very spirit of all their mercies, and 
take nothing but the husks, who overlook this relation, and 
draw not forth the sweetness of it in their contemplations. — 
God's sweetest dealings with us would not be half so sweet as 
they are, if they did not intimate some further sweetness. As 
ourselves have a fleshly and spiritual substance, so have our 
mercies a fleshly and spiritual use, and are fitted to the 
nourishing of both our parts. He that receives the earnal part 
and no more, may have his body comforted by them, but not 
his soul. O, therefore, that christians were skilled in this art ! 
You can open your bibles, and read there of God and of glory : 
O learn to open the creatures, and the several passages of Pro- 
vidence, to read of God and glory there. Certainly by such a 
skilful improvement we might have a fuller taste of Christ and 
heaven, in every bit we eat, and in every draught we drink, 
than most men have in the use of the sacrament. 

If thou prosper in the world, let it make thee more sensible 
of thy perpetual prosperity : If thou be weary of thy labours, 
let it make thy thoughts of rest more sweet : if things go cross 
with thee, let it make thee more earnestly desire that day, 
when all thy sufferings and sorrow shall cease. Is thy body 
refreshed with food or sleep ? remember the inconceivable re- 
freshings with Christ. Dost thou hear any news that makes 
thee glad ? remember what glad tidings it will be to hear the 
sound of the trump of God, and the absolving sentence of Christ 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 241 

our judge. Art thou delighting thyself in the society of the 
saint9 ? remember the everlasting amiable society ihou shait 
have with perfected saints in rest. Is God communicating him- 
self to thy spirit ? remember that time when thy joy shall be 
full. Dost thou hear or feel the tempest of wars, or see any 
cloud of blood arising ? remember the day that thou shalt be 
housed with Christ, where there is nothing but calmness and 
amiable union, and where we shall solace ourselves in perfect 
peace, under the wings of the Prince of Peace. Thus you may- 
see what advantages to an heavenly life every condition and 
creature doth afford us, if we have but hearts to apprehend and 
improve them. 

7. Another singular help is this : be much in that angelical 
work of praise. As the most heavenly spirits will have the most 
heavenly employment, so the more heavenly the employment, 
the more will it make the spirit heavenly : though the heart be 
the fountain of all our actions, yet do those actions, by a kind 
of reflection, work much on the heart from whence they spring ; 
the like also may be said of our speeches. So that the work of 
praising God, being the most heavenly work, is likely to raise 
us to the most heavenly temper. This is the work of those 
saints and angels, and this will be our own everlasting work : 
if we were more taken up in this employment now, we should 
be liker to what we shall be then. When Aristotle was ask- 
ed what he thought of music, he answers, Jovem neque canere 
neque citharam pulsare ; that Jupiter did neither sing nor play- 
on the harp ; thinking it an unprofitable art to men, which was 
no more delightful to God. But Christians may better argue 
from the like ground, that singing of praise is a most profitable 
duty, because it is as it were so delightful to God himself, that 
he hath made it his people's eternal work ; for ' they shall sing 
the song of Moses, and the song of the Lamb.' As desire, and 
faith, and hope, are of shorter continuance than love and joy ; 
so also preaching and prayer, and sacraments, and all means 
for confirmation, and expression of faith and hope, shall cease, 
when our thanks and praise, and triumphant expressions of love 
and joy shall abide for ever. The liveliest emblem of heaven 
that I know upon earth is, when the people of God in the deep 
sense of his excellency and bounty, from hearts abounding with 
love and joy, join together both in heart and voice, in the 
cheerful and melodious singing of his praise. Those that deny 
x 



242 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST* 

the use of singing, disclose their unheavenly unexperienced 
hearts, as well as their ignorant understandings. Had they 
felt the heavenly delights that many of their brethren in such 
duties have felt, they would hare been of another mind ! And 
whereas they are wont to question, whether such delights be 
genuine, or any better than carnal or delusive ; surely the 
very relish of God and heaven that is in them, the example of 
the saints, in scripture, whose spirits have been raised by the 
same duty and the command of scripture for the use of this 
means, one would think should quickly destroy the controversy. 
Andaman may as truly say of these delights, as of the testi- 
mony of the spirit, that they witness themselves to be of God. 

Little do we know how we wrong ourselves, by shutting out 
of our prayers the praises of God, or allowing them so narrow 
a room as we usually do. Reader, 1 entreat thee, remember 
this : let praises have a larger room in thy duties : keep ready 
at hand matter to feed tby praise, as well as matter for confes- 
sion and petition. To this end study the excellencies and 
goodness of the Lord, as frequently as thy own necessities and 
yileness ; study the mercies which thou hast received, and 
which are promised ; both their own worth and their aggravat- 
ing circumstances, as often as thou studiest the sins thou hast 
committed. O let God's praise be much in your mouths. — 
Seven times a day did David praise him : yea, his praise was 
continually of him. As he that ofFereth praise glorifieth God, 
so doth he most rejoice and glad his own soul. « Offer there- 
fore the sacrifice of praise continually : in the midst of the 
church let us sing his praise.' 

I confess, to a man of a languishing body, where the heart 
faints, aud the spirits are feeble, the cheerful praising of God 
is more difficult ; because the body is the soul's instrument, 
and when it lies unstringed, or untuned, the music is likely to 
be accordingly. Yet a spiritual cheerfulness there may be 
within, and the heart may praise, if not the voice. But where 
the body is strong, the spirits lively, and the heart cheerful, 
and the voice at command, what advantage have such for this 
heavenly work ? With what alacrity may they sing forth prais- 
es ? O the madness ofhealthful youth, that layout this vigour 
of body and mind upon vain delights, which is so fit for the no- 
blest work of men ! And O the sinful folly of many who drench 
their spirits in continual sadness, and waste their days in com- 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 243 

plaints and groans, and so make themselves unfit for this sweet 
and heavenly work ! that when they should join with the peo- 
ple of God in his praise, and delight their souls in singing" to 
his name, they are studying their miseries, and so rob God of 
his praise, and themselves of their solace. But the greatest 
destroyer of our comfort in this duty is our sticking in the tune 
and melody, and suffering the heart to be all the while id!e> 
which should perform the chief part of the work. 

8. Another thing I will advise you to is this : be a careful ob- 
server of the drawings of the Spirit,- and fearful of quenching 
its motions, of resisting its workings : if ever thy soul get above 
this earth, and get acquainted with this living in heaven, the 
Spirit of God must be to thee as the chariot to Elijah ; yen, the 
very living principle by which thou must move and ascend to 
heaven. O then grieve not thy guide, quench not thy life : if 
thou dost, no wonder if thy soul be at a loss : you little think 
how much the life of all your graces depends upon your ready 
and cordial obedience to the Spirit : when the Spirit urgeth 
thee to secret prayer, and thou refuses t obedience; when he 
forbids thee a known transgression, and yet thou wilt go on : 
when he telleth thee which is the way, ^nd which not, and thou 
wilt not regard, no wonder if heaven and thy soul be strange : 
if thou wilt not follow the Spirit while it would draw thee to 
Christ, and to duty ; how should it lead thee to heaven, and 
bring thy heart into the presence of God ? O what bold access 
shall that soul find in its approaches to the Almighty, that is ac- 
customed to a constant obeying of the Spirit. And how back- 
ward, how dull, and strange, and ashamed will he be to these 
addresses, who bath long used to break away from the Spirit 
that would have guided him ! 1 beseech thee learn well this 
lesson, and try this course : let not the motions of thy body 
only, but the thoughts of thy heart be at the Spirit's beck.^— 
Dost thou not feel sometimes a strong impulsion to retire from 
the world, and draw near to God ? O do not thou disobey, but 
take the offer, and hoist up sail while thou rnayest have this 
blessed gale. When this wind blows strongest, thou goest 
fastest, either backward or forward. The more of this Spirit 
we resist, the deeper will it wound, and the more we obey, the 
speedier is our pace ; as he goes heaviest that hath the wind in 
his face, and he easiest that hath it in bis back. 



244 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 



CHAPTER V. 

A DESCRIPTION OF HEAVENLY CONTEMPLATION. 

The main thing- intended is yet behind, and that which 1 
aimed at when 1 set upon this work. Ml that I have said is 
but the preparation to this. I once more entreat thee, there- 
fore, as thou art a man that makest conscience of a revealed 
duty, and (hat darest not wilfully resist the Spirit, as thou val- 
uest the high delights of a saint, and as thou art faithful to the 
peace and prosperity of thine own soul, that thou diligently 
study the directions following ; and that thou speedily and 
faithfully put them in practice : I pray thee, therefore, resolve 
before thou readest any further, and promise here as before 
the Lord, that if the following advice be wholesome to thy soul, 
thou wilt seriously set thyself to the work, and that no laziness 
of spirit shall take thee off, nor lesser business interrupt thy 
course, but that thou wilt approve thyself a doer of this word, 
and not an idle bearer only. Is this thy promise, and wilt thou 
stand to it ? Resolve, man, and then I shall be encouraged to 
give thee my advice ; only try it thoroughly, and then judge : if 
in the faithful following of this course thou dost not find an in- 
crease of all thy graces, and art not made more serviceable in 
thy place ; if thy soul eujoy not more fellowship with God, and 
thy life be not fuller of pleasure, and thou have not comfort 
readier by thee at a dying hour, and when thou hast greatest 
neetl ; then throw these directions back in my face, and ex- 
claim against me as a deceiver for ever : except God should 
leave thee uncomfortable for a little season, for the more glori- 
ous manifestation of his attributes, and thy integrity ; and sin- 
gle thee out as he did Job, for an example of constancy and pa- 
tience, which would be but a preparative for thy fullest com- 
fort. Certainly God will not forsake this his own ordinance, 
but will be found of those that thus diligently seek him. God 
hath, as it were, appointed to meet thee in this way : do not 
thou fail to give him the meeting, and thou shalt find by expe- 
rience that he will not fail. 

The duty which 1 press upon thee so earnestly, I shall now 
describe: it is the set and solemn acting of all the powers of 
the soul upon this most perfect object [rest} by meditation. 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 245 

1 will a little more fully explain the meaning of this descrip- 
tion, that so the duty may lie plain before thee. 1. The gen- 
eral title that I give this duty is, meditation : not as it is pre- 
cisely distinguished from cogitation, consideration, and con- 
templation : but as it is taken in the larger and usual sense for 5 
cogitation on things spiritual, and so comprehending consid- 
eration and contemplation. 

That meditation is a duty of God's ordaining, not only in his 
written law, but also in nature itself, 1 never met with the man 
that would deny : but that it is a duty constantly practised, 1 
must, with sorrow, deny : it is in word confessed to be a duty 
by all, but by the constant neglect denied by most : and (1 know 
not by what fatal security it comes to pass, that) men that are 
very tender conscienced towards most other duties, yet as 
easily overslip this, as if they knew it not to be a duty at all ; 
they that are presently troubled if they omit a sermon, a fast, a 
prayer in public or private, yet were never troubled that they 
have omitted meditation, perhaps all their life-time to this very 
day : though it be that duty by which all other duties are im- 
proved, and by which the soul digesteth truths, and draweth 
forth their strength for its nourishment. Certainly, I think, 
that as a man is but half an hour taking into his stomach that 
meat which he must have seven or eight hours to digest ; so a 
man may take into his understanding and memory more truth 
in one hour, than he is able well to digest in many. There*- 
fore God commanded Joshua, c That the book of the law 
should not depart out of his mouth, but that he should meditate 
therein day and night : that he might observe to do according 
to that which is written therein.' As digestion is the turning 
the food into chyle and blood, and spirits and flesh; so medita- 
tion, rightly managed, turneth the truths received and remem- 
bered into warm affection, raised resolution, and holy conversa- 
tion. Therefore what good those men are likely to get by ser- 
mons or providences, who are unaccustomed to meditation, 
you may easily judge. And why so much preaching is lost 
among us, and men can run from sermon to sermon, and yet 
have such languishing starved souls, I know no truer cause than 
their neglect of meditation. If men heard one hour and medi- 
tated seven; if they did as constantly digest their sermons as 
they hear them, they would find another kind of benefit by ser- 
mons 3 than the ordinary sort of christians do. 

x 2 



246 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

But because meditation is a general word, and it is Dot all 
meditation that I here intend, I shall therefore lay down the 
difference whereby this I am urging is discerned from all other 
sorts of meditation. And the difference is taken from the act, 
and from the object of it.- 

From the act, which I call the set and solemn acting of all 
the powers of the soul. 

1 . 1 call it the acting of them, for it is action that we are di- 
recting you in now, and not dispositions ; yet these also are 
necessarily presupposed : it must be a soul that is qualified for 
the work, by the supernatural grace of the Spirit, which must 
be able to perform this heavenly exercise. It is a work of the 
living, and not of the dead: it is a work of all other the most 
spiritual, and therefore not to be well performed by a heart 
that is merely carnal. 

2. I call this meditation the acting of the powers of the soul, 
meaning the soul as rational. It is the work of the soul ; for 
bodily exercise doth here profit but little. The soul hath its 
labour and its ease, its business and its idleness, as well as the 
body ; and diligent students are usually as sensible of the labour 
and weariness of their spirits, as they are of that of the members 
of the body. This action of the soul is it I persuade thee to. 

3. 1 call it the acting of all the-powers of the soul, to differ- 
ence it from the common meditation of students, which is usu- 
ally the mere employment of the brain. It is not a bare think- 
ing that 1 mean, nor the mere use of invention or memory, but 
a business of a higher and more excellent nature. 

The understanding is not the whole soul, and therefore can- 
not do the whole work : as God hath made several parts in 
man, to perform their several offices for his nourishment and 
life ; so hath he ordained the faculties of the soul to perform 
their several offices for his spiritual life : so the understanding 
must take in truths, and prepare them for the will, and it must 
receive them, and commend them to the affections : the best 
digestion is in the bottom of the stomach : the affections are as 
it were the bottom of the soul, and therefore the best digestion 
is there : while truth is but a speculation swimming in the 
brain 5 the soul hath not taken fast hold of it ; Christ and heaven 
have various excellencies, and therefore God hath formed the 
soul with a power of divers ways of apprehending, that so we 
might be capable of enjoying those excellencies. 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. £47 

What good could all the glory of heaven have done us ? or 
what pleasure should we have had in the goodness of God him- 
self, if we had been without the affections of love and joy, 
whereby we are capable of being delighted in that goodness? 
So also, what strength or sweetness canst thou receive by thy 
meditations on eternity, while thou dost not exercise those af- 
fections which are the* senses of the soul, by which it must re- 
ceive this strength and sweetness I 

This is it that hath deceived christians in this business : they 
have thought meditation is nothing but the bare thinking on 
truths, and the rolling of them in the understanding and memo- 
ry, when every school-boy can do this. 

Therefore this is the great task in hand, and this is the work 
that I would set thee on ; to get these truths from thy head to 
thy heart ; that all the sermons which thou hast heard of heav- 
en, and all the notions thou hast conceived of this rest, may be 
turned into the blood and spirit of affection, and thou mayest 
feel them revive thee, and warm thee at the heart, and mayest 
so think of heaven, as heaven should be thought on. 

If thou shouldst study nothing but heaven while thou livest, 
and shouldst have thy thoughts at command, to turn them 
thither on every occasion, and yet shouldst proceed no further 
than this ; this were not the meditation that 1 intended : as it 
is thy whole soul that must possess God hereafter, so must 
the whole in a lower manner possess him here. I have shewn 
you in the beginning of this treatise, how the soul must enjoy 
the Lord in glory, to wit, by knowing, by loving, by joying in 
him : why, the very same way must thou begin thy enjoy- 
ment here. 

So much as thy understanding and affections are sincerely 
acted upon God, so much dost thou enjoy him : and this is the 
happy work of this meditation. So that you see here is some- 
what more to be done, than barely to remember and think of 
heaven : as running, and such like labours, do not only stir a 
hand or foot, but strain and exercise the whole body ; so doth 
meditation the whole soul. 

As the whole was filled with sin before, so the whole must be 
filled with God now ; as St. Paul saith of knowledge, and gifts, 
and faith to remove mountains, that if thou hast all these with- 
out love, thou art but * as a sounding brass, or as a tinkling 
cymbal,' so I may say of the exercise of these, if in this work 



$48 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

of meditation, thou exercise knowledge, and gifts, and faith of 
miracles, and not love and joy, thou dost nothing ; if thy medi- 
tation tends to fill thy note book with notions and good sayings 
concerning God, and not thy heart with longings after biro, and 
delight in him, for aught I know thy book is as much a chris- 
tian as thou. 

I call this meditation set and solemn, to difference it from 
that which is occasional. As there is prayer which is solemn, 
when we set ourselves wholly to the duty ; and prayer which 
is sudden and short, commonly called ejaculations, when a man 
in the midst of other business doth send up some brief request 
to God : so also there is meditation solemn, when we apply our- 
selves only to that work ; and there is meditation which is short 
and cursory, when in the midst of our business we have some 
good thoughts of God in our minds. And as solemn prayer is 
either first set, when a christian observing it as a standing duty, 
doth resolvedly practise it in a constant course ; or secondly, 
occasional, when some unusual occasion doth put us upon it at 
a season extraordinary : so also meditation. 

Now, though I would persuade you to that meditation which 
is mixed with your common labours, and to that which special 
occasions direct you to ; yet these are not the main things 
which I here intend : but that you would make it a constant 
standing duty, as you do hearing, and praying, and reading the 
scripture, and that you would solemnly set yourselves about it, 
and make it for that time your whole work, and intermix other 
matters no more with it* than you would do with praying, or 
other duties. Thus you see, what kind of meditation it is that 
we speak of, viz, the set and solemn acting of all the powers 
of the soul. 

The second part of the difference is drawn from its object, 
which is rest, or the most blessed estate of man in his everlast- 
ing enjoyment of God in heaven. Meditation hath a large 
field to walk in, and hath as many objects to work upon, as there 
are matters, and lines, and words in the scriptures, as there are 
known creatures in the whole creation, and as there are par- 
ticular discernable passages of Providence in the government 
of persons and actions through the world : but the meditation 
that 1 now direct you in, is only of the end of all these, and of 
these as they refer to that end : it is not a walk from mountains 
to vallies, from sea to land, from kingdom to kingdom, from 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST, 249 

planet to planet ; but it is a walk from mountains and vallies to 
the holy mount Sion : from sea and land to the land of the liv • 
ing ; from the kingdoms of this world, to the kingdom of saints ; 
from earth to heaven ; from time to eternity. It is a walking 
upon the sun, and moon, and stars ; it is a walk in the garden 
and paradise of God. It may seem far off; but spirits are 
quick ; whether in the body, or out of the body, their motion is 
swift : they are not so heavy or dull as these earthly lumps, nor 
so slow of motion as these clods of flesh. I would not have you 
cast off your other meditations ; but surely as heaven hath the 
pre-eminence in perfection, so should it have the pre-emi- 
nence also in our meditation: that which will make us most 
happy when we possess it, will make us most joyful when we 
meditate upon it ; especially when that meditation is a degree 
of possession, if it be such affecting meditation as 1 here de- 
scribe. 

You need not here be troubled with fear, lest studying so 
much on these high matters should make you mad. If 1 set 
you to meditate as much on sin and wrath, and to study nothing 
but judgment and damnation, then you might fear such an 
issue : hut it is heaven, and not hell, that I would persuade you 
to walk in ; it is joy, and not sorrow, that I persuade you to 
exercise. I would urge you to look on no deformed object, 
but only upon the ravishing glory of saints, and the unspeak- 
able excellencies of the God of glory, and the beams that 
stream from the face of his Son. Are these sad thoughts ? Will 
it distract a man to think of his happiness ? Will it distract the 
miserable to think of mercy ? Or the captive or prisoner, to 
foresee deliverance ? Neither do I persuade your thoughts to 
matters of great difficulty, or to study knotted controversies of 
heaven, or to search out things beyond your reach, if you 
should thus set your wit upon the tenters, you might quickly be 
distracted indeed : but it is your affections more than your in- 
ventions that must be used in this heavenly employment we 
speak of. They are truths which are commonly known, which 
your souls must draw forth and feed upon. The resurrection 
of the body, and the life everlasting, are articles of your creed, 
and not nicer controversies. Methinks it should be liker to 
make a man mad, to think of living in a world of wo, to think 
of abiding among the rage of wicked men, than to think of liv- 
ing with Christ in bliss ; methioks, if we be not mad already, i$ 



250 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

should sooner distract us, to hear the tempests and roaring 
waves, to see the billows, and rocks, and sands, and gulphs, 
than to think of arriving safe at rest. ' But wisdom is justified 
of all her children.' Knowledge hath no enemy but the igno- 
rant. This heavenly course was never spoke against by any, 
but those that never either knew it, or used it. I more fear 
the neglect of men that do approve it. Truth loseth much 
more by loose friends, than by the sharpest enemies. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE FITTEST TIME AND PLACE FOR THIS CONTEMPLATION, 
AND THE PREPARATION OF THE HEART UNTO IT. 

Thus 1 have opened to you the nature of this duty ; 1 pro- 
ceed to direct you in the work ; where I shall first, shew you 
how you must set upon it ; secondly, how you must behave in 
it ; and thirdly, how you shall shut it up. 1 advise thee, 1. 
Somewhat concerning the time. 2. Somewhat concerning the 
place. And 3. Somewhat concerning the frame of thy spirit. 

And I . for the time, I advise thee that as much as may be, it 
be set and constant. Proportion out such a part of thy time to 
the work. 

Stick not at their scruple, who question the stating of times 
as superstitious ; if thou "suit out thy time to the advantage of 
the Work, and place no religion in the time itself; thou needest 
not to foar test this be superstition. As a workman in his shop 
will have a set place for every one of his tools, or else when he 
should use it, it may be to seek ; so a christian should have a 
set time ior every ordinary duty, or else when he should prac- 
tise it, it is ten to one but he will be put by it. Stated time is 
a hedge to duty, and defends it against many temptations to 
omission. God hath stated none but the Lord's day himself: 
but he hath left it to be stated by ourselves, according to every 
man's condition and occasions, lest otherwise his law should 
have been a burden or a snare. Yet hath he left us general 
rules, which by the use of reason, and christian prudence, may 1 
help us to determine the fittest times. 

It is as ridiculous a question of them that ask us, Where scrip* 
ture commands to pray so oft, or at such hours ? as if they ask- 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 251 

ed, Where the scripture commands that the church stand in 
such a place ? or the pulpit in such a place ? or my seat in such 
a place ? or where it commands a man to read the scriptures 
with a pair of spectacles ? 

Most that I have known to argue against a stated time, have 
at last grown careless of the duty itself, and shewed more dis- 
like against the work than the time. If God gave me so much 
money or wealth, and tell me not in scripture how much such 
a poor man must have, nor how much my family, nor how much 
in clothes, and how much in expences : is it not lawful, yea, 
and necessary, that 1 make the division myself, and allow to 
each the due portion ? So if God doth bestow on me a day or 
week of time, and give me such and such work to do in this 
time, and tell me not how much, i shall allot to each work ; 
certainly I must make the division myself, and proportion it 
wisely and carefully too. Though God hath not told you at 
what hour you shall rise in the morning, or at what hours you 
shall eat and drink ; yet your own reason and experience will 
tell you, that ordinarily you should observe a stated time. — 
Neither Jet (he fear of customariness and formality deter you 
from this. This argument hath brought the Lord's supper 
from once a week to once a quarter, or once a year ; and it 
hath brought family duties with too many of late, from twice 
a day to once a week, or once a month. 

I advise thee therefore, if well thou mayest, to allow this duty 
a stated time, and be as constant in it, as in hearing and pray- 
ing : yet be cautious in understanding this. I know this will 
not prove every man's duty : some have not themselves and 
their time at command, and therefore cannot set their hours ; 
such are, most servants, and many children of poor parents ; 
and many are so poor, that the necessity of their families will 
deny them this freedom. 1 do not think itthe duty of such to 
leave their labours for this work just at certain set times, no 
nor for prayer. Of two duties we must choose the greater, 
though of two sins we must choose neither. I think such per- 
sons were best to be watchful, to redeem time as much as they 
can, and take their vacant opportunities as they fall, and espe- 
cially to join meditation and prayer, as much as they can, with 
the labours of their callings. There is no such enmity between 
labouring, and meditating or praying in the spirit, but that 
both may be done together ; yet 1 say, as Paul in another case^ 



252 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

' if thou canst be free, use it rather.' Those that have more 
spare time, I still advise, that they keep this duty to a stated 
time. And indeed it were no ill husbandry, nor point of folly, 
if we did so by all other duties ; if we considered the ordinary 
works of the day, and suited out a fit season and proportion of 
time to every work, and fixed this in our memory and resolu- 
tion, or wrote it in a table, and kept it in our closets, and nev- 
er broke it but upon unexpected and extraordinary causes : if 
every work of the day had thus its appointed time, we should 
e better skilled, both in redeeming time, and performing duty. 
2. 1 advise thee also, concerning thy time for this duty, that 
as it be stated, so it be frequent : just how oft it should be, I 
cannot determine, because men's conditions may vary it ; but 
in general, that it be frequent, the scripture requireth, when it 
mentioneth meditating continually, and day and night. Cir- 
cumstances of our condition, may much vary the circumstance 
of our duties. It may be one man's duty to hear or pray often- 
er than another, and so it maybe in this of meditation : but for 
those that can conveniently omit other business, 1 advise, that 
it be once a day at least. Though scripture tells us not how 
oft in a day we should eat or drink; yet prudence and experi- 
ence will direct us twice or thrice a day. 

Those that think they should not tie themselves to order and 
number of duties ; but should then only meditate or pray, when 
they find the Spirit provoking them to it, go upon uncertain 
and unchristian grounds. I am sure, the scripture provokes us 
to frequency, and our necessity secondeth the voice of scrip- 
lure; and if through my own neglect, or resisting the Spirit, 1 
do not find it so excite me, 1 dare not therefore disobey the 
scripture, nor neglect the necessities of my own soul. I should 
suspect that spirit which would turn my soul from constancy in 
duty: if the Spirit in scripture bid me meditate or pray, I dare 
not forbear it, because 1 find not the spirit within me to second 
the command : if 1 find not incitation to duty before, yet 1 may 
find assistance while I wait in performance. 1 am afraid of 
laying my corruptions upon the Spirit, or blaming the want of 
the spirit's assistance, when I should blame the backwardness 
of my own heart ; nor dare 1 make one corruption a plea for 
another ; nor urge the inward rebellion of my nature, as a rea- 
son for the outward disobedience of my life ; and for the heal- 
ing of my nature's backwardness, 1 more expect that the Spirit 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 253 

of Christ should do it in a way of duty, than in a way of disobe- 
dience and neglect of duty. Men that fall on duty according 
to the frame of their spirit only, are like our ignorant vulgar, 
who think their appetite should be the only rule of their eat- 
ing; when a wise man judgeth by reason and experience, lest 
when his appetite is depraved, he should either surfeit or fam- 
ish. Our appetite is no sure rule for our times of duty ; but the 
word of God in general, and our spiritual reason, experience, 
necessity, and convenience in particular, may truly direct us. 
Three reasons especially should persuade thee to frequency 
in this meditation on heaven. 

1 . Because seldom conversing with him will breed a strange- 
ness betwixt thy soul and God : frequent society breeds famil- 
iarity, and familiarity increase th love and delight, and maketh 
us bold and confident in our addresses. This is the main end 
of this duty, that thou mayest have acquaintance and fellow- 
ship with God therein ; therefore if thou come but seldom -to it, 
thou wilt keep thyself a stranger still, and so miss of the end of 
the work. 

2. Seldomness will make thee unskilful in the work, and 
strange to the duty, as well as to God. How clumsily do men 
set their hands to a work they are seldom employed in ! where- 
as, frequency will habituat e thy heart to the work, and thou 
wilt better know the way in which thou daily walkest, yea, 
and it will be more easy and delightful also : the hill which 
made thee pant and blow at the first going up, thou mayest run 
up easily when thou art once accustomed to it. 

3. And lastly, Thou wilt lose that heat and life by long in- 
termissions, which with much ado thou didst obtain in duty.— «■ 
If thou eat but a meal in two or three days, thou wilt lose thy 
strength as fast as thou gettest it : if in holy meditation thou 
get near to Christ, and warm thy heart with the fire of love, if 
thou then turn away, and come but seldom, thou wilt soon re- 
turn to thy former coldness. 

It is true, the intermixed use of other duties may do much to 
the keeping thy heart above, especially secret prayer : but 
meditation is the life of most other duties ; and the view of 
heaven is the life of meditation. 

3. Concerning the time of this duty, 1 advise thee, that thou 
choose the most seasonable time. All things are beautiful in 
their season. Unseasonableness may lose thee the fruit of thy 

Y 



254 THE SAtKtfS EVERLASTING REST. 

labour ; it may raise disturbances add difficulties in the work \ 
yea, it may turn a duty to sin ; when the seasonableness of a 
duty doth make it easy, doth remove impediments, doth em- 
bolden us to the undertaking, and ripen its fruit. 

The seasons of this duty are either, First) ordinary ; or Se* 
condly, extraordinaty. 

First, The ordinary season of your daily performance cannot 
be particularly determined, otherwise God would have deter- 
mined it in his word. Men's Conditions of employment, and 
freedom, and bodily temper, are so various, that the same may 
be a seasonable hour to one, which may be unseasonable to 
another. !f thou be a servant* or an hard. labourer, that thou 
hast not thy time at command, thou must take that season 
which thy business will best afford : either as thou sittest in the 
shop at thy work, or as thou travellest on the way, or as thou 
liest waking in the night. Every man best knows his own 
time, even when he hath the least to binder him in the world ; 
but for those whose necessities tie them not so close, but that 
they may choose what time of the day they will, my advice to 
such is, that they carefully observe the temper of their body 
and mind, and mark when they find their spirits most active 
and fit for contemplation, and pitch upon that as the stated 
time. Some men are freest for duties when they are fasting, 
and some are then unfittest of all. Every man is the meetest 
judge for himself. The time I have always found fittest for 
myself, is the evening, from sun- setting to the twilight ; and 
sometime in the night when it is warm and clear. 

The Lord's day is a time exceeding seasonable for this exer- 
cise. When should we more seasonably contemplate on rest, 
than on that day which doth typify it to us ? Neither do 1 think 
that typifying use is ceased, because the antitype is not fully 
come. However, it being a day appropriated to worship and 
spiritual duties, we should never exclude this duty, which is so 
eminently spiritual. 1 think verily this is the chief work of a 
christian sabbath, and most agreeable to the intent of its pos- 
itive institution. What fitter time to converse with our Lord, 
than on that day which he hath appropriated to such employ- 
ment, and therefore called it the Lord's day ? What fitter 
day to ascend to heaven than that on which our Lord did arise 
from earth, and fully triumph over death and hell, and take 
possession of heaven before us ? 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 255 

Two sorts of christians I would entreat to take notice of this 
especially. 

1 . Those that spend the Lord's day only in public worship ; 
either through the neglect of meditation, or else by their over- 
much exercise of the public, allowing no time to private duty : 
though there be few that ofTend in this kind ; yet some there 
are, and a hurtful mistake to the soul it is. They will grow 
but in gifts, if they exercise but their gifts in outward perform- 
ances. 

2. Those that have time on the Lord's day for idleness and 
vain discourse, and find the day longer than they know how 
well to spend : were these but acquainted with this duty of 
contemplation, they would need no other recreation; they 
would think the longest day short enough, and be sorry that 
the night had shortened their pleasure. 

Secondly, For the extraordinary performance, these follow- 
ing are seasonable times. 

1. When God doth extraordinarily revive thy spirit. When 
God hath enkindled thy spirit with fire from above, it is that it 
may mount aloft more freely. It is a choice part of a chris* 
tian's skill, to observe the temper of his own spirit, and to ob- 
serve the gales of grace, and how the Spirit of Christ doth 
move upon his. * Without Christ we can do nothing :* there- 
fore let us be doing when he is doing ; and be sure not, to be 
out of the way, nor asleep when he comes. A little labour 
will set thy heart a going at such a time, when another time 
thou mayest take pains to little purpose. 

2. When thou art cast into troubles of mind through suffer- 
ings, or fear, or care, or temptations, then it is seasonable to 
address thyself to this duty. When should we take our cor- 
dials, but in our times of fainting ? When is it more seasonable 
to walk to heaven, than when we know not in what corner on 
earth to live with comfort ? Or when should our thoughts con- 
verse above, but when they have nothing but grief to converse 
with below ? 

Another fit season for this heavenly duty, is, when the mes- 
sengers of God summon us to die ; when either our grey hairs, 
or our languishing bodies, or some such fore-runners of death, 
tell us that our change cannot be far off; when should we more 
frequently sweeten our souls with the believing thoughts of 
another life, than when we find that this is almost ended, and 



258 THE EVERLASTING SAINTS REST. 

when flesh is raising fears and terrors? Surely no men bare 
greater need of supporting joys than dying men ; and those 
joys must he fetched from our eternal joy. 

It now follows that I speak a word of the fittest place. — 
Though God is every where to be found, yet some places are 
more convenient than others. 

1. As this is a private and spiritual duty, so it is most con- 
venient that thou retire to some private place : our spirits have 
seed of every help, and to be freed from every hinderance in 
,he work. For occasional meditation I give thee not this ad- 
vice ; but for set and solemn duty, 1 advise, that thou with- 
draw thyself from all society, that thon may est awhile enjoy 
xhe society of Christ. 

And as I advise thee to a place of retiredness ; so also that 
thou observe more particularly, what place or posture best 
agreeth with thy spirit ; whether within door, or without ; 
whether sitting still, or walking. I believe Isaac's example in 
this also, will direct us to the place and posture which will best 
suit with most, as it doth with me, viz. c His walking forth to 
meditate in the fields at the even tide.' And Christ's own ex- 
ample gives us the like direction. Christ was used to a solita- 
ry garden ; and though he took his disciples thither with him, 
yet did he sepaiate himself from them for more secret devo- 
tions. 

1 am next to advise thee somewhat concerning the prepara- 
tions of thy heart. The success of the work doth much depend 
on the frame of thy heart. When man's heart hath nothing in 
it that might grieve the Spirit, then was it the delightful habit- 
ation of his Maker. God did not quit his residence there, till 
man did repel him by unworthy provocations. There grew 
no strangeness, till the heart grew sinful, and too loathsome a 
dungeon for God to delight in. And were this soul restored to 
its former innocency, God would quickly return to his former 
habitation : yea, so far as it is renewed and repaired by the 
Spirit, the Lord will yet acknowledge it his own, and Christ 
will manifest himself unto it, and the Spirit will take it for its 
temple and residence. So far as the soul is qualified for con- 
versing with God, so far it doth actually enjoy him. Therefore 
« keep thy heart with all diligence, for from thence are the 
issues of life*' 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 257 

More particularly, when thou settest on this duty, 1. Get 
thy heart as clear from the world as thou canst ; wholly lay by 
the thoughts of thy business, of thy troubles, of thy enjoyments, 
and of every thing- that may take up any room in thy soul. 
Get thy soul as empty as possibly thou canst, that so it may 
be the more capable of being filled with God. It is a work 
that will require all the powers of thy soul, if they were a thou- 
sand times more capacious and active than they are, and there- 
► fore you have need to lay by all other thoughts and affections 
while you are busied here. 

2. Be sure thou set upon this work with the greatest serious- 
ness that possibly thou canst. Customariness here is a killing 
sin. There is no trifling in holy things ; God will be sanctified 
of all that draw near him. These spiritual duties are the most 
dangerous, if we miscarry in them, of all. The more they ad- 
vance the soul, being well used, the more they destroy it, be- 
ing used unfaithfully ; as the best meats corrupted are the 
worst. 

To help thee therefore to be serious when thou settest on this 
work ; First, labour to have the deepest apprehensions of the 
presence of God, and of the incomprehensible greatness of the 
majesty which thou approachest. Think with what reverence 
thou shouldst approach thy Maker : think thou art addressing 
thyself to him, ' that made the worlds with the word of his 
mouth ; that upholds the earth as in the palm of his hand ; that 
keeps the sun, and moon, and heaven in their courses ; that 
bounds the raging sea with the sands, and saith, Hitherto go, 
and no further.' Thou art going to converse with him, before 
whom the earth will quake, and devils tremble ; before whose 
bar thou must shortly stand, and all the world with thee, to re- 
ceive their doom. O think, 1 shall then have lively apprehen- 
sions of his majesty : my drowsy spirits will then be wakened: 
why should 1 not now be roused with the sense of his greatness, 
and the dread of his name possess my soul ? 

Secondly, Labour to apprehend the greatness of the work 
which thou attemptest, and to be deeply sensible both of its 
weight and height. If thou wert pleading for thy life at the 
bar of a judge, thou wouldst be serious; and yet that were but 
a trifle to this : If thou were engaged in such a work as David 
was against Goiiah, whereon the kingdom's deliverance de- 
pended, in itself considered, it were nothing to this. Suppose 
¥ % 



258 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

thou wert going to such a wrestling as Jacob's ; suppose thou 
wert going to see the sight which the three disciples saw in 
the mount ; how seriously, how reverently wouldst thou both 
approach and behold ! If some angel from heaven should but 
appoint to meet thee, at the time and place of thy contempla- 
tion, how apprehensively wouldst thou go to meet him ! Why, 
consider then with what a spirit thou shouldst meet the Lord, 
and with what seriousness and dread thou shouldst daily con- 
verse with him. 

Consider also the blessed issue of the work. If it succeed, 
it will be an admission of thee into the presence of God, a be- 
ginning of thy eternal glory on earth; a means to make thee 
live above the rate of other men, and admit thee into the next 
room to the angels themselves ; a means to make thee live and 
die both joyfully and blessedly : so that the prize being so great, 
thy preparation should be answerable. 



CHAPTER VII. 

WHAT AFFECTIONS MUST BE ACTED, AND BY WHAT CONSIDERA- 
TIONS AND OBJECTS, AND IN WHAT ORDER. 

To draw the heart nearer the work ; the next thing to be 
discovered, is, What powers of the soul must here be acted, 
what affections excited, what considerations are necessary 
thereto, and in what order we must proceed. 

1. You must go to the memory, which is the magazine or 
treasury of the understanding, thence you must take forth 
those heavenly doctrines which you intend to make the subject 
of your meditation. For the present purpose, you may look 
over any promise of eternal life in the gospel ; any description 
of the glory of the saints, of the resurrection of the body, and 
life everlasting ; some one sentence concerning those eternal 
joys, may afford you matter for many years meditation ; yet it 
will be a point of wisdom here, to have always a stock of mat- 
ter in our memory, that so when we should use it, we may 
bring forth out of our treasury things new and old. if we took 
things in order, and observed some method in respect of the 
matter, and did meditate first on one truth concerning eterni- 
ty, and then another, it would not be amiss. And if aDy 

4 



ME SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 259 

should be barren of matter through weakness of memory, 
they may have notes or books of this subject for their further- 
ance. 

2. When you have fetched from your memory the matter of 
your meditation, your next work is to present it to your judg- 
ment : open there the case as fully as thou canst, set forth the 
several ornaments of the crown, the several dignities belong- 
ing to the kingdom, as they are partly laid open in the begin- 
ning of this book: let judgment deliberately view them over, 
and take as exact a survey as it can ; then put the question, 
and require a determination. Is there happiness in all this, or 
not ? Is not here enough to make me blessed ? Can he want 
any thing, who fully possesseth God ? Is there any thing high- 
er for a creature to attain ? Thus urge thy judgment to pass an 
upright sentence, and compel it to subscribe to the perfection 
of thy celestial happiness, and to leave this sentence as under 
its hand upon record. 

Thus exercise thy judgment in the contemplation of thy rest ; 
thus magnify and advance the Lord in thy heart, till an holy 
admiration hath possessed thy soul. 

3. Sut the great work, which you may either premise, or 
subjoin to this as you please, is, to exercise thy belief of the 
truth of thy rest; and that both in respect of the truth of the 
promise, and also the truth of thy own interest and title. As 
unbelief doth cause the languishing of all our graces; so faith 
would do much to revive and actuate them, if it were but re- 
vived and actuated itself. 

If we did soundly believe that there is such a glory, that 
within a few days our eyes shall behold it : O what passions 
would it raise within us ! Were we thoroughly persuaded, that 
every word in the scripture concerning the inconceivable joys 
of the kingdom, and the inexpressible blessedness of the life to 
come, were the very word of the living God, and should cer- 
tainly be performed to the smallest tittle, O what astonishing 
apprehensions of that life would it breed ! How would it actu- 
ate every affection I How would it transport us with joy, upon 
the least assurance of our title ! If I were as verily persuaded, 
that 1 shall shortly see those great things of eternity, promised 
in the word, as I am, that this is a chair that I sit in, or that 
this is paper that 1 write on ; would it not put another spirit 
within me? Would it not make me forget and despise the 



260 THE SiJNTS EVERLASTING REST* 

world? and even forget to sleep, or to eat ? and say, as Christ, 
* 1 have meat to eat that ye know not of?' O sirs, you little 
know what a thorough belief would work. 

Therefore let this be a chief part of thy business in medita- 
tion. Read over the promises : study all confirming providen- 
ces. Call forth thine own experiences : remember the scrip- 
tures already fulfilled both to the church and saints in the for- 
mer ages, and eminently to both in this present age, and those 
that have been fulfilled particularly to thee. 

Set before your faith, the freeness and the universality of the 
promise : consider God's offer, and urge it upon all, that he 
hath excepted from the conditional covenant no man in the 
world, nor will exclude any from heaven, wlio will accept of 
his offer. Study also the gracious disposition of Christ, and his 
readiness to welcome all that will come : study all the eviden- 
ces of his love, which appeared in his sufferings, in his preach- 
ing the gospel, in his condescension to sinners, in his easy con- 
ditions, in his exceeding patience, and in his urgent invita- 
tions : do not all these discover his readiness to save ? Did he 
ever manifest himself unwilling ? Remember also his faithful- 
ness to perform his engagements. Study also the evidences of 
his love in thyself. Look over the works of his grace in thy 
soul : if thou dost not fiod the degree which thou desirest, yet 
deny not that degree which thou findest. Remember what dis- 
coveries of thy state thou hast made formerly in the work of 
self-examination. Remember all the former testimonies of the 
Spirit ; and all the sweet feelings of the favour of God : and all 
the prayers that he hath heard and granted ; and all the pre- 
servations and deliverances : and all the progress of his Spirit, 
in his workings on thy soul, and the disposals of Providence, 
conducing to thy good : and vouchsafing of means, the direct- 
ing of thee to them, the directing of ministers to meet with thy 
state, the restraint of those sins that thy nature was most prone 
to. Lay these all together, and then think with thyself, wheth- 
er all these do not testify the good will of the Lord concerning 
thy salvation? And whether thou may est not conclude with 
Sampson's mother, when her husband thought they should sure- 
ly die, l If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have 
received an offering at our hands, neither would he have shew- 
ed us all these things ; nor would, as at this time, have told us 
such things as these/ Judges xiii. 22, 23. 



THE SAtNTS EVERLASTING REST. 261 

2. When the meditation hath thus proceeded about the truth 
of thy happiness, the next part of the work is to meditate of its 
goodness ; that when the judgment hath determined, and faith 
hath apprehended, it may then pass on to raise the affections. 

1. The first affection to be acted, is love : the object of it is 
goodness : here then is the reviving part of thy work : go to 
thy memory, thy judgment, and thy faith ; and from them pro- 
duce the excellencies of thy rest ; take out a copy of the record 
of the Spirit in scripture, and another of the sentence register- 
ed in thy spirit, whereby the transcendant glory of the saints 
is declared : present these to thy affection of love ; open to it 
the cabinet that contains the pearl ; shew it the promise, and 
that which it assureth ; thou needest not look on heaven 
through a multiplying glass : open but one casement, that love 
may look in ; give it but a glimpse of the back parts of Qod, 
and thou wilt find thyself presently in another world : do but 
speak out, and love can hear ; do but reveal these things and 
love can see ; it is the brutish love of the world that is blind ; 
divine love is exceeding quick-sighted. Let thy faith, as it 
were, take thy heart by the hand, and shew it the sumptuous 
buildings of thy eternal habitation, and the glorious ornaments 
of thy Father's house ; shew it those mansions which Christ is 
preparing, and display before it the honours of the kingdom : 
let faith lead thy heart into the presence of God, and draw as 
near as possibly thou canst, and say to it, * Behold, the Ancient 
of Days; the Lord Jehovah, whose name is I AM ;' this is he 
who made the worlds with his word ; this is the cause of all 
causes, the spring of action, the fountain of life, the first prin- 
ciple of the creatures' motions, who upholds the earth, who 
ruleth the nations, who disposeth of events, and subdueth his 
foes ; who governeth the depths of the great waters, and bound- 
eth the rage of her swelling waves ; who ruleth the winds, and 
moveth the orbs, and causeth the sun to run its race, and the 
several planets to know their courses ; this is he that loved 
thee from everlasting, that formed thee in the womb, and gave 
thee this soul ; who brought thee forth, and shewed thee the 
light, and ranked thee with the chief of his earthly creatures-; 
who endued thee with thy understanding, and beautified thee 
with his gifts ; who maintaineth thee with life, and health, and 
comforts ; who gave thee thy preferments, and dignified thee 
with thy honours, and differenced thee from the most misera- 



262 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

ble and vilest of men. Here, O here is an object worthy thy 
love ; here thou mayest be sure thou canst not love too much : 
this is the Lord that hath blessed thee with his benefits, that 
hath spread tby table in the si ght of thine enemies, and caused 
thy cup to overflow. This is he that angels and saints praise, 
and the host of heaven must magnify for ever. 

Thus do thou expatiate in the praises of God, and open his 
excellencies to thine own heart, till thou feel the life begin to 
stir, and the fire in thy breast begin to kindle : as gazing upon 
the dusty beauty of flesh doth kindle the fire of carnal love ; so 
this gazing on the glory and goodness of the Lord will kindle 
spiritual love. What though thy heart be rock and flint, this 
often striking may bring forth the fire ; but if yet thou feelest 
not thy love to work, lead thy heart further, and shew it yet 
more ; shew it the Son of the living God, whose name is 
• Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting 
Father, the Prince of Peace :' shew it the King of saints on the 
throne of his glory, * who is, and was, and is to come; who liv- 
cth and was dead, and behold, he lives for evermore ; who hath 
made thy peace by the blood of his cross, and hath prepared 
thee, with himself, an habitation of peace ;' his office is to be 
the great peace maker ; his kingdom is a kingdom of peace ; his 
gospel is the tidings of peace ; his voice to thee now is the voice 
of peace : draw near and behold him : dost thou not hear his 
voice ? He that called Thomas to come near and to see the print 
of the nails, and to put his finger into his wounds, he it is that 
calls to thee, come near and view the Lord tby Saviour, and be 
not faithless, but believing ; * Peace be unto thee, fear not, it is 
1 ;' he that calleth, behold me, behold me, to a rebellious peo- 
ple that called not on his name, doth call out to thee a believer 
to behold him ; he that calls to them who pass by, to behold hi3 
sorrow in the day of his humiliation, doth call now to thee to 
behold his glory in the day of his exaltation : look well upon 
hira : dost thou not know him f Why, it is he that brought thee 
up from the pit of hell : it is he that reversed the sentence of 
thy damnation ; that bore the curse which thou shouldst have 
borne, and restored to thee the blessing that thou hadst forfeit- 
ed, and purchased the advancement which thou must inherit 
for ever ; and yet dost thou not know him ? Why, his hands 
were pierced, his bead was pierced, his sides were pierced, 
his heart was pierced with the sting of thy sins, that by 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 263 

these marks thou mayest always know him : dost thou not 
remember when he found thee lying in thy blood, and took 
pity on thee, and dressed thy wounds, and brought thee 
home, and said unto thee, live? Hast thou forgotten since he 
wounded himself to cure thy wounds, and let out his own blood 
to stop thy bleeding ? Is not the passage to his heart yet stand- 
ing open ? If thou know him not by the face, the voice, the 
hands ; if thou know him not by the tears and bloody sweat, 
yet look nearer, thou mayest know him by the heart ; that 
broken healed heart is his, that dead-revived heart is his, that 
pitying, melting heart is his ; doubtless it can be none but his. 
Love and compassion are its certain signatures ; this is he, even 
this is he, who would rather die than thou shouldbt die, who 
chose thy life before his own, who pleads his blood before his, 
Father, and makes continual intercession for thee. If he had 
not suffered, O ! what hadst thou suffered ? What hadst thou 
been if he had not redeemed thee ? Whither hadst thou gone, 
if he had not recalled thee? There was but one step between 
thee and hell, when he stept in and bore the stroke ; he slew 
the bear, and rescued the prey : he delivered thy soul from the 
roaring lion ; and is not here fuel enough for love to feed on ? 
Doth not this loadstone snatch thy heart, and almost draw it 
forth from thy breast ? Canst thou read the history of love any 
further at once ? Doth not thy throbbing heart here stop to ease 
itself; and dost thou not, as Joseph, seek for a place to weep 
in ? Or do not the tears of thy love bedew these lines ? Go 
then, for the field of love is large, it will yield thee fresh con- 
tents for ever, and be thine eternal work to behold and love ; 
thou needeet not then want work for thy present meditation. 

Hast thou forgotten the time when thou wast weeping, and 
he wiped the tears from thine eyes ? when thou wast bleeding, 
and he wiped the blood from thy soul ? when pricking cares 
and fears did grieve thee, and he did refresh thee and draw out 
the thorns ? Hast thou forgotten when thy folly wounded thy 
soul, and the venomous guilt seized upon thy heart ? when he 
sucked forth the mortal poison from thy soul, though therewith 
he drew it into his own. 

1 remember it is written of good Melancthon, that when his 
child was removed from him, it pierced his heart to remember, 
how he once sat weeping, with the infant on his knee, and bow 
ioviogly it wiped the tears from the father's eyes : how then 



264 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

should it pierce thy heart to think how lovingly Christ hath 
wiped away thine ! O tow oft hath he found thee sitting* weep- 
ing like Hagar, while thou gavest up thy slate, thy friends, thy 
life, yea, thy soul for lost ; and he opened to thee a well of con- 
solation, and opened thine eyes also that thou mayest see 
it ? How oft hath he found thee in the posture of Elias, sitting 
under the tree forlorn and solitary, and desiring rather to die 
than to live ; and he hath spread thee a table from heaven, 
&nd sent thee away refreshed, and encouraged ? How oft hath 
he found thee as the servant of Elias crying out, ' Alas ! what 
shall we do, an host doth compass the city ?' And he hath open- 
ed thine eyes to see more for thee than against thee, both in 
regard of the enemies of thy soul and thy body. How oft hath 
he found thee in such a passion as Jonas, in thy peevish frenzy, 
weary of thy life ; and he hath not answered passion with pas- 
sion, though he might have done well to be angry, but hath 
mildly reasoned thee out of thy madness, and said, * Dost thou 
well to be angry,' or to repine against me ? How oft hath he 
set thee on watching and praying, or repenting and believing, 
and when he hath returned, hath found thee fast asleep ? and 
yet he hath not taken thee at the worst, but instead of an 
angry aggravation of thy fault, he hath covered it over with the 
mantle of love, and prevented thy over-much sorrow with a 
gentle excuse, * the spirit is willing, bu the flesh is weak.' — 
He might have done by thee, as Epaminondas by his soldier, 
who finding him asleep upon the watch, run him through with 
his sword, and said, " Dead 1 found thee, and dead I leave 
thee:" but he rather chose to awake thee moje gently, that 
his tenderness might admonish thee, and keep thee watching. 
How oft hath he been traduced in his cause, or name, and 
thou hast, like Peter, denied him (at least by thy silence) 
whilst he hath stood in sight ? Yet all the revenge he hath 
taken, hath been a heart-melting look, and a silent remem- 
bering thee of thy fault by his countenance. How oft hath 
conscience haled thee before him, as the Pharisees did the 
adulterous woman ; and laid most benious crimes to thy 
charge ? And when thou hast expected to hear the sentence of 
death, he hath shamed away the accusers, and put them to 
silence, and said to thee, c Neither do I condemn thee ; go thy 
way, and sin no more, 1 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 265 

And art thou not yet transported with love? Can thy heart 
be cold when thou thinkest of this, or can it hold when thou re- 
memberest those boundless compassions ? Rememberest thou 
not the time when he met thee in thy duties ; when he smiled 
upon thee, and spake comfortably to thee ? when thou didst 
< sit under his shadow with great delight, and when his fruit 
was sweet to thy taste ?' when 'he brought thee to his ban- 
queting-house, and his banner over thee was love?' when c his 
left hand was under thy head, and with his right hand he did 
embrace thee ?' And dost thou not yet cry out, l Stay me, com- 
fort me, for I am sick of love ?' Thus 1 would have thee deal 
with thy heart ; thus hold forth the goodness of Christ to thy 
affections ; plead thus the case with thy frozen soul, till thou 
say as David in another case, ' My heart was hot within me.' 

If these arguments will not rouse up thy love, thou hast 
more of this nature at hand : thou hast all Christ's personal ex- 
cellencies to study : thou hast all his particular mercies to thy- 
self; thou hast all his sweet and near relations to thee, and 
thou hast the happiness of thy perpetual abode with him here* 
after. AH these offer themselves to thy meditation, with all 
their several branches. Only follow them close to thy heart, 
ply the work, and let it not cool : deal with thy heart, as Christ 
did with Peter when he asked thrice over, * Lovest thou me ?' 
till he was grieved, and answered, ' Lord, thou knowest that 1 
love thee.' So say to thy heart, lovest thou the Lord? and 
ask it the second time, and urge it the third time, lovest thou 
the Lord ? till thou grieve it, and shame it out of its stupidity, 
and it can truly say, thou knowest that 1 love him. 

2. The next affection to be excited is desire. The object of 
it is goodness not yet attained. This being so necessary an at- 
tendant of love, and being excited much by the same conside- 
rations, I suppose you need the less direction, and therefore I 
shall touch but briefly on this; if love be hot, desire will not 
be cold. 

When thou hast thus viewed the goodness of the Lord, and 
considered the pleasures that are at his right-hand, then pro- 
ceed on thy meditation thus ; think with thyself, where have I 
been ? what have I seen ? G the incomprehensible, astonishing 
glory ! O the rare transcendant beauty ! O blessed souls that 
now enjoy it ! that see a thousand times more clearly, what I 
have seen but darkly at this distance, and scarce discern 
z 



26S THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

through the interposing clouds ! What a difference is there be- 
twixt my state and theirs ! I am sighing, and they are singing : 
I am sinning, and they are pleasing God : 1 have an ulcerated 
soul, like the loathsome bodies of Job and Lazarus, but they are 
perfect and without blemish : 1 am here entangled in the love 
of the world, when they are taken up with the love of God : I 
live indeed amongst the means of grace, and I possess the fel- 
lowship of my fellow-believers ; but I have none of their im- 
mediate views of God, none of that fellowship that they possess : 
they have none of my cares and fears ; they weep not in se- 
cret : they languish not in sorrows ; all tears are wiped away 
from their eyes. O what a feast hath my faith beheld, and 
what a famine is yet in my spirit ! I have seen a glimpse of the 
court of God, but alas, I stand but as a beggar at the doors, 
when the souls of my companions are admitted in. O blessed 
souls ! I may not, 1 dare not envy your happiness ; I rather re- 
joice in my brethren's prosperity, and am glad to think of the 
day when t shall be admitted into your fellowship. But O that 
I were so happy as to be in your place ; not to displace you, 
but to rest there with you. Why must 1 stay and groan, and 
weep, and wait? My Lord is gone, he hath left this earth, 
and is entered into his glory : my brethren are gone, rny 
friends are there, my house, my hope, my all is there : and 
must I stay behind to sojourn here? What precious saints 
have left this earth ! If the saints were all here, if Christ were 
here, then it were no grief for me to stay : but when my soul 
is so far distant from my God, wonder not if I now complain ; 
an ignorant Micah will do so for his idol, and shall not my soul 
do so for God ? And yet if I had no hope of enjoying, I would 
go and hide myself in the deserts, and spend my days in fruit- 
less wishes : but seeing it is the promised land, the state I must 
be advanced to myself, and my soul draws near, and is almost 
at it, I will live and long ; I will look and desire : I will breathe 
out, How long, Lord, how long ! How long, Lord, holy and 
true, wilt thou suffer this soul to pant and groan ! and wilt not 
open and let him in, who waits and longs to be with thee ! 

Thus, reader, let thy thoughts aspire : thus whet the desires 
of thy soul by meditation ; till thy soul loDg (as David's for the 
waters of Bethlehem) and say, ' O that one would give me to 
drink of the wells of salvation!' and till thou canst say as he* 
« I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord ?' 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 267 

3. The next affection to be acted, is hope. This is of singu- 
lar use to the soul. It helpeth exceedingly to support it in suf- 
ferings ; It eneourageth it to adventure upon the greatest diffi- 
culties; it firmly establisheth it in the most shaking trials, and 
it mightily enlivens the soul in duties. 

Let faith then shew thee the truth of the promise, and judg- 
ment the goodness of the thing promised ; and what then is 
wanting for the raising thy hope ? Shew thy soul from the word 
and from the mercies, and from the nature of God, what possi- 
bility, yea, what probability, yea, what certainty thou hast of 
possessing the crown. Think thus, and reason thus with thy 
own heart : why should I not confidently and comfortably hope, 
when my soul is in the Lands of so compassionate a Saviour, 
and when the kingdom is at the disposal of so bounteous a God ? 
Did he ever manifest any backwardness to my good, or discov- 
er the least inclination to my ruin ? Hath he not sworn to the 
contrary to me in his word, that he delights not in the death 
of him that dieth, but rather that he should repent and live? 
Have not all bis dealings with me witnessed the same ? Did he 
not mind me of my danger, when I never feared it ? And why 
was this, if he would not have me to escape it ? Did he not 
mind me of my happiness, when I had no thoughts of it ? And 
why was this, but that he would have me to enjoy it ? I have 
been, ashamed of my hope in the arm of flesh, but hope in the 
promise of God maketh not ashamed : 1 will say therefore ia 
my greatest sufferings, l The Lord is my portion, therefore 
will 1 hope in him. The Lord is good to them that wait for 
him, to the soul that seeketh him ; it is good that I both hope, 
and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. The Lord will 
not cast off for ever ; but though he cause grief, yet will he 
have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.' — 
Though 1 languish and die, yet will 1 hope ; for he hath said, 
* The righteous hath hope in his death.' Though I must lie 
down in dust and darkness, yet there c my flesh shall rest in 
hope.' And when my flesh hath nothing in which it may rejoice, 
yet will I keep * the rejoicing of hope firm to the end.' 

4. The last affection to be acted, i3 joy. This is the end of 
all the rest; love, desire, hope, tend to the raising of our joy. 
And is it nothing to have a deed of Gift from God ? Are his in- 
fallible promises no ground of joy ? Is it nothing to live in daily 
expectation of entering into the kingdom ? Is not my assur- 



268 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

ance of being glorified one day, a sufficient ground for inex- 
pressible joy ? Is it no delight to the heir of a kingdom, to think 
of what he must hereafter possess, though at present he little 
differ from a servant? Am 1 not commanded ' to rejoice in 
hope of the glory of God ?' 

Here take thy heart once again as it were, by the hand ; 
bring it to the top of the highest mount ; shew it the ' kingdom 
of Christ, and the glory of it:' say to it, ' All this will thy 
Lord bestow upon thee, who hast believed in him, and been a 
worshipper of him. Jtis the Father's good pleasure to give 
thee this kingdom.' Seest thou this astonishing glory above 
thee? Why all this is thy own inheritance* This crown is 
thine, these pleasures are thine, because thou art Christ's, and 
Christ is thine ; when thou wert married to him, thou hadst all 
this with him. 

Thus take thy heart into the land of promise ; shew it the 
pleasant hills and fruitful vallies ; shew it the clusters of grapes 
which thou hast gathered, and by those convince it that it is a 
blessed land, flowing with better than milk and honey : enter 
the gates of the holy city, walk through the streets of the New 
Jerusalem, walk about Sion, go round about her, tell the tow- 
ers thereof, mark well her bulwarks, consider her palaces, that 
f hou mayest tell it to thy soul : • The foundation is garnished 
with precious stones ; the twelve gates are twelve pearls ; the 
street of the city is pure gold, as it were transparent glass; 
there is no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the 
Lamb are the temple of it. it hath no need of sun or moon to 
shine in it, for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is 
the light thereof, and the nations of them which are saved shall 
walk in the light of it.' This is thy rest, O my soul, and this 
must be the place of thy everlasting habitation : ' Let all the 
sons of Sion then rejoice, and the daughters of Jerusalem be 
glad : for great is the Lord, and greatly is he praised in the 
city of our God : beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole 
earth is mount Sion; God is known in her palaces for a re- 
fuge.' 

Yet proceed : the soul (saith Austin) that loves, ascends fre- 
quently, and runs familiarly through the streets of the heaven- 
ly Jerusalem, visiting the patriarchs and prophets, saluting the 
apostles, and admiring the armies of martyrs and confessors. — 
So do thou lead on thy heart as from street to street, bringing" 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 263 

it into the palace of the great King; lead it, as it were, from 
chamber to chamber; say to it, here must 1 lodge, here must 1 
live, here must I love, and be loved. 1 must shortly be one of 
this heavenly choir, I shall then be better skilled in the music ; 
among 4;his blessed company must 1 take my place ; my tears 
will then be wiped away ; there it is that trouble and lamenta- 
tion cease, and the voice of sorrow is not heard ; O when 1 look 
upon this glorious place, what a dungeon methinks is earth ! O 
what a difference betwixt a man feeble, pained, groaning, dy- 
ing, rotting in the grave, and one of these triumphant, blessed, 
shining saints ! Here c shall 1 drink then of the river of pleas- 
ure, the streams whereof make glad the city of God. For the 
Lord will create a new earth, and the former shall not be re- 
membered ; we shall be glad and rejoice for ever in that which 
he creates ; for he will create Jerusalem, a rejoicing, and her 
people a joy ; and he will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in his 
people, and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, 
nor the voice of crying ; there shall be do more thence an in*» 
font of days, nor an old man, that hath not filled his days.' 

Why do 1 not then arise from the dust, and lay aside my sad 
complaints, and cease my mourning ? Why do I not trample 
down vain delights, and feed upon the foreseen delights of glo- 
ry ? Why is not my life a continual joy ; and the favour of 
heaven perpetually upon my spirit ? 

i do not place any flat necessity in thy acting all the fore- 
mentioned affections in this order at one time, or in one duty : 
perhaps thou mayest sometime feel some one of thy affections 
more flat than the rest, and so to have more need of exciting: 
or thou mayest find one stirring more than the rest, and so think 
it more seasonable to help it forward ; or if thy time be short, 
thou mayest work upon one affection one day, and upon anoth- 
er the next, as thou findest cause ; all this I leave to thy own 
prudence. 

z 2 



270 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING RESX. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

SOME ADVANTAGES AND HELPS, FOR RAISING THE SOUL BY 
MEDITATION. 

The next part of this directory, is to shew you what advan- 
tages you should take, and what helps you should use, to make 
your meditations of heaven more quickening", and to make you 
taste the sweetness that is thereio. For this is the main work, 
that you may not stick in a bare thinking, but may have the 
lively sense of all upon your hearts : and this you will find to 
be the most difficult part of the work. It is easier to think of 
Leaven a whole day, than to be lively and affectionate in those 
thoughts one quarter of an hour. Therefore let us yet a little 
further consider what may be done, to make your thoughts of 
heaven piercing, affecting thoughts. 

It will be a point of spiritual prudence, and a singular help 
to the furthering of faith, to call in our senses to its assistance : 
if we can make us friends of those usual enemies, and make 
them instruments of raising us to God, which are the usual 
means of drawing us from God, we shall perform a very excel- 
lent work. Sure it is both possible and lawful to do some- 
thing in this kind ; for God would not have given us either 
senses themselves, or their usual objects, if they might no 
haye been serviceable to his own praise, and helps to raise us 
to the apprehension of higher things : and it is very considera- 
ble, how the Holy Ghost doth condescend, in the phrase of 
scripture, in brioging things down to the reach of sense ; how 
he sets forth the excellencies of spiritual things in words that 
are borrowed from the objects of sense. Doubtless, if such 
expressions had not been best, and to us necessary, the Holy 
G host would not have so frequently used them : he that will 
speak to man's understanding, must speak in man's language, 
and speak that which he is capable to conceive. 

1. Go to then ; when thou settest thyself to meditate on the 
joys above, think on them boldly as scripture hath expressed 
them ; bring down thy conceivings to the reach of sense. Ex- 
cellency, without familiarity, doth more amaze than delight us : 
but love and joy are promoted by familiar acquaintance: 
when we go about to think of God and glory without these 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 271 

spectacles, we are lost, and have nothing to fix our thoughts 
upon ; we set God and heaven so far from us, that our thoughts 
are strange, and we look at them as things beyond our reach, 
and are ready to say, that which is above is nothing to us : to 
conceive no more of God and*glory, but that we cannot con- 
ceive them ; and*to apprehend no more, but that they are past 
apprehension, will produce no more love but this, to acknowl- 
edge that they are so far above us that we cannot love them, 
and no more joy but this, that they are above our rejoicing. — 
And therefore put Christ no further from you, than he hath 
put himself, lest the divine nature be again inaccessible. — 
Think of Christ as in our own nature glorified : think of our 
fellow-saints as men there perfected ; think of the city and 
state as the Spirit hath expressed it, only with caution. Sup- 
pose thou wert now beholding this city of God, and that thou 
hadst been a companion with John in his survey of its glory, 
and hadst seen the thrones, the majesty, the heavenly hosts, the 
shining splendour which he saw : draw as strong suppositions 
as may be from thy sense for the helping of thy affections : it 
is lawful to suppose we did see for the present, that which God 
hath in prophesies revealed, and which, we must really see in 
more unspeakable brightness before long. Suppose therefore 
with thyself thou hadst been that apostle's fellow traveller into 
the celestial kingdom, and that thou hadst seen all the saints in 
their white robes, with palms in their hands: suppose thou 
hadst heard those songs of Moses, and of the Lamb ; or didst 
even now hear them praising and glorifying the living God : 
if thou hadst seen these things indeed, in what a rapture 
wouldst thou have been ! And the more seriously thou puttest 
this supposition to thyself, the more will the meditation ele- 
vate thy heart. 

I would not have thee, as the Papists, draw them in pictures, 
nor use such ways to represent them. This, as it is a course 
forbidden by God, so it would but seduce and draw down 
thy heart : but get the liveliest picture of them in thy mind that 
possibly thou canst; meditate on them, as if thou wert all the 
while beholding them, and as if thou wert even hearing the 
hallelujahs ; till thou canst say, methinks I see a glimpse of t&e 
glory ! Methinks I hear the shouts of joy and praise ! Methinks 
1 even stand by Abraham and David, Peter and Paul, and more 
of these triumphing souls ! Methinks 1 see the Son of God ap- 



272 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

pearing in the clouds, and the world standing at his bar to re* 
ceive their doom ! Methinks I hear him say, ' Come ye blessed 
of my Father ;' and see ' them go rejoicing into the joy of their 
Lord !' My very dreams of these things have deeply affected 
ine ; and should not these just suppositions affect me much 
more ? What if I had seen with Paul those unutterable things ; 
should 1 not have been exalted (and that perhaps above meas- 
ure) as well as he ? What if 1 had stood in the room of Stephen, 
and seen heaven opened, and Christ sitting at the right hand of 
God ? Surely that one sight was worth the suffering his storm 
of stones. O that 1 might but see what he did see, though I al- 
so suffered what he did suffer ! What if I had seen such a sight 
as Michaiah saw ? c The Lord silting upon his throne, and all 
the hosts of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left.' 
Why these men of God did see such things ; and I shall shortly 
see far more than ever they saw, till they were loosed from the 
flesh, as 1 must be. And thus you see how the familiar con- 
ceiving of the state of blessedness, as the Spirit hath in a con- 
descending language expressed it, and our strong suppositions 
raised from our bodily senses, will further our affections in this 
heavenly work. 

2. There is yet another way by which we may make our sen- 
ses serviceable to us, and that is, by comparing the objects of 
sense with the objects of faith ; and so forcing sense to afford us 
that medium, from whence we may conclude the transcendant 
worth of glory, by arguing from sensitive delights as from the 
less to the greater. And here, for your further assistance, 1 
shall furnish you with some of these comparative arguments. 

And 1. You must strongly argue with your hearts, from the 
corrupt delights of sensual men. Think then with yourselves, 
when you would be sensible of the joys above : is it such a de- 
light to a sinner to do wickedly ? And will it not be delightful 
indeed to live with God ? Hath a drunkard such delight in his 
cups and companions, that the very fears of damnation will not 
make him forsake them ? Sure then there are high delights with 
God ? If the way to hell can afford such pleasure, what are the 
pleasures of the saints in heaven ? 

2. Compare also the delights above, with the lawful delights 
of sense. Think with thyself, how sweet is food to my taste 
when I am hungry ! Especially, as Isaac said, < that which my 
soul loveth.' What delight hath the taste in some pleasant 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 273 

fruits, in some well relished meats ! O what delight then must 
my soul have in feeding- upon Christ the living- bread I and in 
eating with him at his table in his kingdom ! How pleasant is 
drink in the extremity of thirst ! Then how delightful will it be 
to my soul ' to drink of that fountain of living water, which 
whoso drinks shall thirst no more !' 

3. Compare also the delights above with the delights that 
are found in natural knowledge: This is far beyond the de- 
lights of sense, and the delights of heaven are further beyond it 
Think then, can an Archimedes be so taken up with his math- 
ematical invention, that the threats of death cannot take him 
off ? Should I not much more be taken up with the delights of 
glory, and die with these contemplations fresh upon my soul ; 
especially when my death will perfect my delights ? But those 
of Archimedes die with him. What a pleasure is it to dive in- 
to the secrets of nature ! to find out the mysteries of arts and 
sciences! If we make but any new discovery in one of these, 
what singular pleasure do we fiad therein ! Think then what 
high delights there are in the knowledge of God and Christ ! 
if the face of human learning be so beautiful, that sensual pleas- 
ures are to it but base and brutish ; how beautiful then is the 
face of God ! When we light on some choice and learned book, 
how are we. taken with it ! we could read and study it day and 
night; we can leave meat, and drink, and sleep to read it; 
what delights then are there at God's right hand, where we 
shall know in a moment more than any mortal can know I 

4. Compare also the delights above, with the delights of mo- 
rality, and of the natural affections. W T hat delight had ma- 
ny sober heathens in the practice of moral duties ; so that they 
took him only for an honest man who did well through the love 
of virtue, and not only for fear of punishment : yea, so highly 
did they value virtue, that they thought the chief happiness of 
man consisted in it. Think then what excellency there will be 
in that rare perfection which we shall be raised to in heaven ; 
and k in that uncreated perfection of God which we shall behold ! 
What sweetness is there in the exercise of natural love : wheth- 
er to children, to parents, to yoke-fellows or to friends ! The de- 
light which special, faithful friends find in loving and enjoying 
one another, is a most pleasing, sweet delight : even Christ 
himself, as it seemeth, had some of this kind of love, for he had 
one disciple whom he especially loved. Think then, if the de.« 



274 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 



lights of cordial friendship be so great, what delights shall we 
have in the friendship of the Most High ? and in our mutual 
amity with Jesus Christ ? and in the dearest love and comfort 
with the saints ? Surely this will be a closer and stricter friend- 
ship than ever was betwixt any friends on earth ; and these will 
be more lovely and desirable friends than any that ever the 
sun beheld : and both our affections to our Father, and our Sa- 
viour, but especially his affection to us, will be such as here we 
never knew ; as spirits are so far more powerful than flesh, that 
one angel can destroy an host, so also are their affections more 
strong and powerful : we shall then love a thousand times 
more strongly and sweetly than now we can ; and as all the at- 
tributes and works of God are incomprehensible, so is the at- 
tributes and work of love : he will love us many thousand times 
more, than we even at the perfectest, are able to love him : 
what joy then will there be in this mutual love ? 

5. Compare also the excellencies of heaven with those glo- 
rious works of the creation which our eyes now behold. What 
a deal of wisdom, and power, and goodness appeareth in and 
through them to a wise observer 1 What a deal of the majesty 
of the great Creator doth shine in the face of this fabric of the 
world ! Surely his works are great and admirable, sought out 
of them that have pleasure therein. This makes the study of 
natural plilosophy so pleasant, because the works of God are 
so excellent : what rare workmanship is in the body of a man ! 
yea, in the body of every beast ! which makes the anatomical 
studies so delightful. What excellency in every plant we see ! 
in the beauty of flowers! in the nature, diversity and use of 
herbs ! in fruits, in roots, in minerals, and what not ! but espe- 
cially, if we look to the greater work : if we consider the whole 
body of this earth, and its creatures, and inhabitants ; the 
ocean of waters, with its motions and dimensions, the variation 
of the seasons, and of the face of the earth ; the intercourse of 
spring and fall, of summer and winter: what wonderful ex- 
cellency do these contain ! Why, then think if these things 
which are but servants to sinful man, are yet so full of mysteri- 
ous worth ; what is that place where God himself doth dwell, 
prepared for the just who are perfected with Christ ! 

When thou walkest fortfi in the evening, look upon the 
stars, in what number they bespangle the firmament; if in the 
day time, look up to the glorious sun ; view the wide expanded 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 275 

heavens, and say to thyself, what glory is in the least of yonder 
stars ! What a vast, what a resplendent body hath yonder moon, 
and every planet! What an inconceivable glory hath the sun ! 
Why, all this is nothing to the glory of heaven. Yonder sun 
must there be laid aside as useless ; for it would not be seen 
for the brightness of God. I shall live above all yonder glory ; 
yonder sun is but darkness to the lustre of my Father's house ; 
I shall be as glorious as that sun myself. 

So think of the rest of the creatures. This whole earth is 
but my father's footstool ; this thunder is nothing to his dreadful 
voice ; these winds are nothing to the breath of his mouth ; so 
much wisdom and power as appear in these ; so much and far 
more greatness, and goodness, and delight, shall I enjoy in 
the actual fruition of God. Surely, if the rain which rains, and 
the sun which shines on the just and unjust, be so wonderful ; 
the sun then which must shine on none but saints and angels, 
must needs be wonderful and ravishing in glory. 

6. Compare the things which thou shait enjoy above, with 
the excellency of those admirable works of Providence, which 
God doth exercise in the church, and in the world. What glo- 
rious things hath the Lord wrought! And yet we shall see more 
glorious than these. Would it not be an astonishing sight, to 
see the sea stand as a wall on the right hand, and on the left, 
and the people of Israel pass safely through, and Pharaoh and 
his people swallowed up ? If we had seen the rock to gush forth 
streams, or manna or quails rained down from heaven, or the 
earth open and swallow up the wicked ; would not all the'se 
have been wonderous, glorious sights ? But we shall see far 
greater things than these. And as our sights shall be more 
wonderful, so also they shall be more sweet ; there shall be no 
blood or wrath intermingled ; we shall cot then cry out as 
David, 'who shall stand before this holy Lord God?' — 
Would it not have been an astonishing sight to have seen the 
sun standstill in the firmament? Why, we shall see when there 
shall be no sun to shine at all ; we shall behold for ever a sun 
of more incomparable brightness. W T ere it not a brave life, 
if we might still live among wonders and miracles ; and all for 
us, and no? against us ? If we could have drought or rain at our 
prayers, as Elias ; or if we could call down fire from heaven, 
to destroy our enemies ; ©r raise the dead to life as Elisha ; or 
cure the diseased, and speak strange languages, as the apos- 



276 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

ties ; alas, these are nothing to the wonders which we shall see 
and possess with God, and all those wonders of goodness and 
love I We shall possess that pearl and power itself, through 
whose virtue all these works were done ; we shall ourselves be 
the subjects of more wonderful mercies than any of these.-— 
Jonas '^as raised but from a three day's burial, from the helly 
of the whale in the deep ocean; but we shall be raised from 
many years rottenness and dust, and that dust exalted to a sun- 
like glory, and that glory perpetuated to all eternity. What 
sayestthou? Is not this the greatest of miracles or wonders ; 
Surely, if we observe but common providences, the motions of 
the sun, the tides of the sea, the standing of the earth, the 
warming it, the watering it with rain as a garden, the keeping 
in order a wicked confused world, with multitudes of the like? 
they are all very admirable, but then to think of the Sion of 
God, of the vision of the divine Majesty, of the comely order 
of the heavenly host ; what an admirable sight must that needs 
be ! O wbat rare and mighty works have we seen ! what clear 
discoveries of an almighty arm! what magnifying of weak- 
ness : what casting down of strength ? what wonders wrought 
by most improbable means ! what turning of tears and fears 
into safety and joy ? such hearing of earnest prayers, as if 
God could have denied us nothing ! All these are wonderful 
works : but what are these to our full deliverance ! to our 
final conquest ! to our eternal triumph ! and to that great day 
of^reat things ! 

7. Compare also the mercies which thou shalt have above, 
with those particular providences which thou hast enjoyed thy- 
self. If thou be a christian indeed, thou hast, if not in thy 
book, yet certainly in thy heart, many favours upon record ; 
the very remembrance and rehearsal of them is sweet ; how 
much more sweet was the actual enjoyment! But all these are 
nothing to the mercies which are above. Look over the ex- 
cellent mercies of thy youth, the mercies of thy riper years, 
the mercies of thy prosperity and of thy adversity, the mercies 
of thy several places and relations : are they not excellent and 
innumerable? Canst not thou think on the several places thou 
hast lived in, and remember that they have each had their sev- 
eral mercies? The mercies of such a place and such a place, 
and all of them very rich and engaging mercies ? O how sweet 
was it to thee, when God resolved thy last doubts ! when he 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 27 7 

overcame and silenced thy fears and unbelief! when he pre- 
vented the inconveniencies of thy life, which thy own counsel 
would have cast thee into! when he eased thy pains, when he 
healed thy sickness, and raised thee up as from the very grave ! 
Were not all these precious mercies ? Alas, these are but small 
things for thee in the eyes of God ; he intendeth thee far great- 
er things than these, even such as these are scarce a taste of. 
It was a choice mercy that God bath so notably answered thy 
prayers, and that thou hast been so oft and evidently a prevail- 
er with him : but O think, are all these so sweet and precious, 
that my life would have been a perpetual misery without them I 
Hath his providence lifted me so high on earth, and his merci- 
ful kindness made me great ? How sweet then will the glory of 
his presence be ! And how high will his eternal love exalt me ! 
And how great shall I be made in communion with his great- 
ness ! If my pilgrimage and warfare have such mercies ; what 
shall I find in my home, and in my triumph? If I have had so 
much in this strange country, at such a distance from him ; 
what shall I have in heaven, in his immediate presence ? 

8. Compare the joy which fhou shalt have in heaven, with 
that which the saiots of God have found in the way to it, and in 
the foretastes of it : when thou seest a heavenly man rejoice, 
think what it is that so affects him. It is the property of fools 
to rejoice in toys ; but the people o^ God are wiser, they know 
what it is that makes them glad, When did God reveal him- 
self to any of his saints, but the joy of their hearts was answer- 
able to the revelation ? When Moses had been talking with 
God in the mount, it made his visage so shining and glorious, 
that the people could not endure to behold it ; but he was fain 
to put a veil upon it : no wonder then if the face of God must 
be veiled, till we come to that state where we shall be capable 
of beholding him, when ' the veil shall be taken away, and we 
all beholding him with open face, shall be changed into the 
same image from glory to glory.' Alas, what are the back 
parts which Moses saw from the clefts of the rock, to that open 
face which we shall behold hereafter ! What is that revelation 
to John in Patmos, to this revelation which we shall have in 
heaven ! How short doth Paul's vision come of the saints' vis- 
ion above with God ! How small a part of the glory which we 
must see, was that which so transported Peter in the mount ! 1 
confess these were ail extraordinary foretastes ; but little to 
a a 



,£78 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

the full, beatifical vision. When David foresaw the resurrec- 
tion of Christ and of himself, how did it make him break forth 
and say, ' Therefore my heart was glad, and my glory rejoic- 
eth, my flesh also shall rest in hope.' Think then, if the fore- 
sight can raise such ravishing joy, what will the actual posses- 
sion do ? How oft have we read and heard of the dying saints, 
who when they had scarce strength and life to express them, 
have been as full of joy as their hearts could hold ? And when 
their bodies have been under the extremities of their sickness, 
yea, ready to feel the pangs of death, have yet had so much of 
heaven in their spirits, that their joy hath far surpassed their 
sorrows ? And if a spark of this fire be so glorious, and that in 
the midst of the sea of adversity ; what then is that sun of glo- 
ry itself? 

9. Compare also the glory of the heavenly kingdom with 
the glory of the church on earth, and of Christ in his state of 
humiliation; and you may easily conclude, if Christ standing 
in the room of sinners, was so wonderful in excellencies, what 
is Christ at the Father's right hand ? And if the church, under 
her sins and enemies, hath so much beauty; she will have 
much more at the marriage of the Lamb. How wonderful was 
the Son of God in the form of a servant ! When he is born, the 
heavens must proclaim him by miracles ; a new star must ap- 
pear in the firmament, and fetch men from remote parts of the 
world to worship him in a manger ; the angels and heavenly 
host must declare his nativity, and solemnize it with praising 
and glorifying God : when he sets upon his office, his whole 
life is a wonder; water turned into wine, thousands fed with 
five loaves and two fishes, the lepers cleansed, the sick healed, 
the lame restored, the blind receive their sight, the dead rais- 
ed : if we had seen all this, should we not have thought it won- 
derful? The most desperate diseases cured with a touch, with 
a word ; the blind eyes with a little clay and spittle ; the devils 
departing by legions at command ; the winds and the seas 
obeying his word : are nat all these wonderful ? Think then, 
how wonderful is his celestial glory ! If there be such cutting 
down of boughs, and spreading of garments, and crying, hosan- 
na, to one that comes into Jerusalem riding on an ass ; what 
will there be when he comes with his angels in his glory ? If 
they that hear him preach the gospel of the kingdom, have 
ihsir hearts turned within them, that they turn and say, ' INev- 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 279 

er man spake like this man :' then sure they that behold his 
majesty in his kingdom, will say, * There was never glory like 
this glory.' If when his enemies come to apprehend him, the 
word of his mouth doth cast them all to the ground; if when he 
is dying, the earth must tremble, the veil of the temple rend, 
the sun in the firmament hide its face, and the dead bodies of 
the saints arise : O what a day will it be, when he will once 
more shake, not the earth only, but the heavens also, and re- 
move the things that are shaken ! when this sun shall be taken 
out of the firmament, and be everlastingly darkened with the 
brightness of his glory ! when the dead must all rise and stand 
before him ; and ' all shall acknowledge him to be the Son of 
God, and every tongue confess him to be Lord and King V If 
when he riseth again, the grave and death have lost their pow- 
er, and the angels of heaven must roll away the stone, and 
astonish the watchmen till they are as dead men, and send the 
tidings to his dejected disciples ; if the bolted doors cannot 
keep him out ; if the sea be as firm ground for him to walk on ; 
if he can ascend to heaven in the sight of his disciples, and 
send the angels to forbid them gazing after him : O what pow- 
er, and dominion, and glory, then is he now possessed of ! and 
must we ever possess with him ! 

Yet think further, are his very servants enabled to do such 
miracles when he is gone from them ? Can a few poor fisher- 
men and tent-makers, cure the lame, and blind, and sick ? 
open prisons, destroy the disobedient, and raise the dead? O 
then what a world will that be, where every one can do great- 
er works than these ! It were much to have the devils subject 
to us ; but more to have our names written in the book of life, 
If the very preaching of the gospel be accompanied with such 
power, that it will pierce the heart, and discover its secrets, 
bring down the proud, and make the stony sinner tremble, if it 
can make men burn their books, sell their lands, bring in the 
price, and lay it down at the preacher's feet ; if it can make 
the spirit of princes stoop, and the kings of the earth resign 
their crowns, and do their homage to Jesus Christ; if it can 
subdue kingdoms, and convert thousands, and turn the world 
thus upside down ; if the very mention of the judgment and life 
to come, can make the judge on the bench to tremble ; what 
then is the glory of the kingdom itself? What an absolute do- 
minion have Christ and his saints ! And if they have this pow- 



280 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

er and honour in the day of their abasement, what will they 
have in their full advancement? 

10. Compare the mercies thou shalt have above, with the 
mercies « hich Christ hath here bestowed on thy soul ; and the 
glorious change which thou shalt have at last, with the gra- 
cious change which the Spirit has wrought on thy heart. — 
Compare the comforts of thy glorification, with the comforts of 
thy sanctification. There is not the smallest grace in thee 
which is genuine, but is of greater worth than the riches of the 
Indies; nor a hearty desire and groan after Christ, but is more 
to be valued than the kingdoms of the world ; a renewed na- 
ture is the very image of God ; scripture calleth it, 'Christ 
dwelling in us,' and ( the Spirit of God dwelling in us :' it is a 
beam from the face of God himself; it is the seed of God re- 
maining in us ; it is the only inherent beauty of the rational 
soul ; it enobleth man above all nobility ; it fitteth him to un- 
derstand his Maker's pleasure, to do his will, and to receive 
his glory: think then with thyself, if ' this grain of mustard- 
seed' be so precious, what is ' the tree of life in the midst of 
the paradise of God?' If a spark of life be so much, how glori- 
ous then is the fountain and end of this life ! If we are even 
now said ' to be like God, and to bear his image, and to be 
holy as he is holy ;' sure we shall then be much liker God, 
when we are perfectly holy, and without blemish. Is the de- 
sire cf heaven so precious a thing ! what then is the thing it- 
self? is love so excellent 1 what then is the beloved ? Is our 
joy in foreseeing and believing so sweet ! what will be the joy 
in the full possession ? O the delight that a christian hath in the 
lively exercise of some of these affections ! What good doth it 
to his very heart, when he can feelingly say, he loves his Lord ! 
Yea, even those troubling passions of sorrow and fear, are yet 
delightful, when they are rightly exercised : how glad is a poor 
christian when he feeleth his heart melt, and when the thoughts 
of sinful unkindness will dissolve it ! Even this sorrow doth 
yield him matter of joy : O what will it then be, when we shall 
do nothing but know God, and love, and rejoice, and praise, 
and all this in the highest perfection ! What a comfort is it to 
my doubting soul, when I have a little assurance of the sincer- 
ity cf my graces ! Uow much more will it comfort me, to find 
that the Spirit hath safely conducted me, and left me in the 
arms of Jesus ! What a change was it that the Spirit made 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING RE3T. 281 

upon my soul, when he first ' turned me from darkness to light, 
and from the power of Satan unto God !' To be taken from that 
horrid state of nature, wherein myself and my actions were 
loathsome to God, and the sentence of death was passed upon 
me, and the Almighty took me for his utter enemy ; and to be 
presently numbered among his saints, and called his friend, his 
servant, his son, and the sentence revoked which was gone 
forth ; O what a change was this ! To be taken from that state 
wherein 1 was born, and had lived so many years, and if I had 
so died I had been damned for ever ; and to be justified from all 
these crimes, and freed from all these plagues, and put into the 
title of an heir of heaven, O what an astonishing change was 
this ! How much greater will that glorious change then be ! 
beyond expressing ! beyond conceiving ! How oft, when I 
have thought of this change in my regeneration, have I cried 
out, O blessed day ! and blessed be the Lord that 1 ever saw 
it ! How then shall 1 cry out in heaven, O blessed eternity ! 
and blessed be the Lord that brought me to it ! Was the mercy 
of my conversion so exceeding great, that the angels of God 
did rejoice to see it ? Sure then the mercy of my salvation will 
be so great that the same angels will congratulate my felicity. 
This grace is but a spark that is raked up in the ashes ; it is 
covered with flesh from the sight of the world ; but my ever- 
lasting glory will not ' be under a bushel, but upon a hill, even 
upon Sion, the mount of God/ 



CHAPTER IX. 

HOW TO MANAGE AND WATCH OVER THE HEART THROUGH 
THE WHOLE WORK. 

The last part of this directory, is, to guide you in managing 
your hearts through this work, and to shew you wherein you 
had need to be exceeding watchful. 1 have shewed you be- 
fore, what must be done with your hearts in your preparations 
to the work, and in your setting upon it : I shall now shew it 
you, in respect of the time of the performance. Our chief work 
will here be, to discover to you the danger, and that will direct 
you to the remedy. Let me therefore acquaint you before- 
hand, that whenever you set upon this heavenly employment, 
a a 2 



282 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

you shall find your own hearts your greatest hinderers, and they 
will prove false to you in one or all of these four degrees. — * 
First, they will hold off, that you will hardly get them to the 
work ; or else they will betray you by their idleness in the 
work, pretending to do it, when they do it not; or they will 
interrupt the work, by their frequent excursions, and turning 
aside to every object ; or they will spoil the work by cutting it 
short, and be gone before you have done any good at it. — 
Therefore 1 forewarn you, as you value the invaluable com- 
fort of this work, faithfully resist these four dangerous evils. 

1. Thou shalt find thy heart as backward to this, as to any 
work in the world. O what excuses it will make! what eva- 
sions it will find out ! and what delays, when it is never so 
much convinced ! Either it will question, whether it be a duty 
or not ! or, if it be so to others, yet whether it be so to thee ? It 
will take up any thing like reason to plead against it ; or, if thy 
heart have nothing against the work, then it will trifle away 
the time in delays, and promise this day and the next, but still 
keep off; or lastly, if thou wilt not be so baffled with excuses 
or delays, thy heart will give thee a flat denial, and oppose its 
own unwillingness to thy reason ; thou shalt find it draw back 
with all the strength it hath. I speak all this of the heart so 
far as it is carnal ; for so far as it is spiritual, it will judge this 
work the sweetest in the world. 

But take up the authority which God hath given thee, com- 
mand thy heart; if it rebel, use violence with it; if thou 
be too weak, call in the Spirit of Christ to thine assistance ; 
he is never backward to so good a work, nor will deny his help 
in so just a cause : God will be ready to help thee, if thou be 
not unwilling to help thyself. Say unto him^ " Lord, thou 
gavest my reason the command of my thoughts and affections : 
the authority I have received over them, is from thee, and 
now, behold they refuse to obey thine authority : thou com- 
mandest me to set them to the work of heavenly meditation, 
but they rebel and stubbornly refuse the duty ; wilt thou not 
assist me to execute that authority which thou hast given me? 
O send down thy Spirit and power, that I may enforce thy com- 
mands, and effectually compel them to obey thy will." 

And thus doing, thou shalt see thy heart will submit : its re- 
sistance will be brought under ; and its backwardness will be 
turned to compliance. 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST, 283 

2. When thou hast got thy heart to the work, beware lest it 
delude thee by a loitering formality ; lest it say, 1 go, and go not ; 
lest it trifle out the time, while it should be effectually meditat- 
ing. When thou hast perhaps but an hour's time for medita- 
tion, the time will be spent before thy heart will be serious. 
This doing of duty, as if we did it not, doth undo as many as 
the flat omission of it. To rub out the hour in a bare lazy 
thinking of heaven, is but to lose that hour, and delude thy- 
self. What is to be done in this case ? Why, do here also as 
you do by a loiteriDg servant ; keep thine eye always upon 
thy heart; look not so much to the time it spendeth in the 
duty, as to the work that is done : you can tell by his work, 
whether your servant hath been painful : ask, what affections 
have yet been acted ? How much am 1 yet got nearer heaven ? 
Verily many a man's heart must be followed as close in this 
duty of meditation, as an ox at the plough, that will go no lon- 
ger than you are calling or scourging ; if you cease driving 
but a moment, the heart will stand still. 

I would not have thee of the judgment of those who think 
that while they are so backward, it is better let it alone ; and 
that if mere love will not bring them to the duty, the service 
is worse than the omission : these men understand not, First 
that this argument would certainly cashier all spiritual obe- 
dience ; nor do they understand well the corruptness of their 
own natures ; nor that their sinful undisposedness will not sus- 
pend the commands of God; nor one sin excuse another; 
especially they little know the way of God to excite their af- 
fections ; and that the love which should compel them, must 
itself be first compelled, in the same sense as it is said to com- 
pel : love I know is a most precious grace, and should have the 
chief interest in all our duties ; but there are means appointed 
by God to procure this love ; and shall I not use those means, 
till I can use them from love ? that were to neglect the means 
till I have the end. Must I not seek to procure love, till I have 
it already ? There are means also for the increasing of love 
where it is begun, and means for exciting it where it lieth 
dull : and must I not use these means, till it is increased and 
excited ? Fall upon the work, till thou art constrained to lore ; 
and then love will constrain thee to further duty. 

3. As thy heart will be loitering, so will it be diverting. It 
will be turning aside like a careless servant, to talk with every 



284 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

one that passeth by : when there should be nothing in thy mind, 
but the work in hand ; it will be thinking of thy calling, or of 
thy afflictions, or of every bird, or tree, or place thou seest, 
or of any impertinency, rather than of heaven. The cure here 
is the same with that before ; to use watchfulness and violence 
with your own imaginations, and as soon as they step out, to 
chide them in. Drive away these birds of prey from thy sacri- 
fice, and strictly keep thy heart to the work thou art upon. 

4. Lastly. Be sure also to look to thy heart in this, that it 
cut not off the work before the time, and run not away through 
weariness, before it have leave. Thou shalt find it exceeding 
prone to this. Thou mayest easily perceive it in other duties : 
if in secret thou set thyself to pray, is not thy heart urging 
thee still to cut it short ? Dost thou not frequently find a mo- 
tion to have done ? Art thou not ready to be up, as soon almost 
as thou art down on thy knees ? So it will be also in thy con- 
templations of heaven ; as fast as thou gettest up thy heart, it 
will be down again ; it will be weary of the work ; it will be 
minding thee of other business to be done, and stop thy heav- 
enly walk, before thou art well warm. What is to be done in 
this case also ? Why the same authority and resolution which 
brought it to the work, and observed it in the work, must hold 
it to it, till the work be done. Stick to the work till thy graces 
be acted, thy affections raised, and thy soul refreshed with the 
delights above ; or if thou canst not obtain these ends at once, 
ply it the closer the next time, and let it not go till thou feel 
the blessiug. ' Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when 
he comes shall find so doing. ' 

Thus I have directed you in this work of heavenly contem- 
plation, and led you into the path where you may walk with 
God. But because I would bring it down to the capacity of 
the meanest, and help their memories who are apt (o let slip 
the former particulars, I shall here contract the whole, and 
lay it before you in a narrower compass. But still I wish thee 
to remember, it is the practice of a duty that 1 am directing 
thee in, and therefore if thou wilt not practise it, do not read it. 

The sum is this, as thou makest conscience of praying daily, 
so do thou of meditation; and more especially on the joys of 
heaven. To this end, set apart one hour, or half hour every 
day, wherein thou mayest lay aside all worldly thoughts, and 
with all possible seriousness and reverence, as if thou wert to 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 285 

speak with God himself, or to have a sight of Christ, or of that 
blessed place : so withdraw thyself into some secret place, and 
set thyself wholly to the following work: if thou canst, take 
Isaac's time and place, who ' went forth into the field in the 
evening to meditate:' but if thou be a servant or poor man 
that cannot have that leisure, take the fittest time and place 
that thou canst, though it be when thou art private about thy 
labours. 

When thou settest to the work, look up toward heaven, let 
thine eye lead thee as near as it can ; remember that there is 
thine everlasting rest ; study its excellency, study its reality, 
till thy unbelief be silenced, and thy faith prevail : if thy judg- 
ment be not yet drawn to admiration, use those sensible helps 
and advantages which were even now laid down. Compare thy 
heavenly joys with the choicest on earth, and so rise up from 
sense to faith ; if this mere consideration prevail not, then 
plead the case with thy heart : preach upon this text of heav- 
en to thyself; convince, inform, confute, instruct, reprove, ex- 
amine, admonish, encourage and comfort thy own soul from 
this celestial doctrine ; draw forth those several considerations 
of thy rest, on which thy several affections may work, especial- 
ly that affection or grace which thou intendest to act. If it be 
love which thou wouldst act, shew it the loveliness of heaven, 
and how suitable it is to thy condition ; if it be desire, con- 
sider thy absence from this lovely object : if it be hope, con- 
sider the possibility and probability of obtaining it : if it be 
courage, consider the singular assistance and encouragements 
which thou mayest receive from God, the weakness of the en- 
emy, and the necessity of prevailing : if it be joy, consider its 
excellent, ravishing glory, thy interest in it, and its certainty, 
and the nearness of the time when thou mayest possess it. — ■ 
Urge these considerations home to thy heart ; whet them with 
all possible seriousness upon each affection : if thy heart draw 
back, force it to the work ; if it loiter, spur it on ; if it step 
aside, command it in again; if it should slip away, and leave 
the work, use thine authority: keep it close to the business, 
till thou hast obtained thine end ; stir not away, if it may be, 
till thy love flame, till thy joy be raised, or till thy desire or 
other graces be lively. Call in assistance also from God, mix 
ejaculations with thy soliloquies ; till having seriously pleaded 
the case with thy heart, and reverently pleaded the case with 



2B6 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

God, tbou bast pleaded thyself from a clod to aflame, from a 
forgetful sinner to a mindful lover : from a lover of the world, 
to a thirster after God : from a fearful coward, to a resolved 
christian. In a word, what will not be done one day, do it the 
next, till thou hast pleaded thy heart from earth to heaven : 
from conversing below, to a walking with God ; and till thou 
canst lay thy heart to rest, as in the bosom of Christ ; in this 
meditation of thy full and everlasting rest. 



CHAPTER X. 

AN EXAMPLE OF THIS HEAVENLY CONTEMPLATION, FOR THE 
HLLP OF THE UNSKILFUL. 

Rest ! How sweet a word is thi* to mine ears! Methinks 
the sound doth turn to substance, and baring entered at the 
ear, descended down to my very heart ; rriethinus I feel it stir 
and work, and that through all my parts and powers, but with 
a various work upon my various parts. To my wearied senses 
and languid spirits, \< seems a quieting, powerful opiate ; to 
my dulled powers, it is spirit and life ; to my dark eyes, it is 
both eye-salve and a prospective ; to my taste, it is sweetness ; 
to mine ears, it is melody ; to my hands and feet, it is strength 
and nimbleness : methinks I feel it digest as it proceeds, and 
increase my native beat and moisture, and lying as a reviving 
cordial at my heart, from thence doth send forth lively spirits, 
which beat through all the pulses of my soul. Rest ! not a9 
the stone that rests on the earth, nor as these clods of flesh shall 
rest in the grave ; so our beasts must rest as well as we ; nor is 
it the satisfying of our fleshly lusts, nor such a rest as the carnal 
world desireth : no, no; we have another kind of rest than 
these : rest we shall from our labours, which were but the way 
and means to rest : but yet that is the smallest part : O blessed 
rest, where we shall never rest day nor night, crying, ' Holy, 
holy, holy, Lord God of Sabbaoth !' where we shall rest from 
sin, but not from worship ! from suffering and sorrow, but not 
from solace ! O blessed day, when 1 shall rest with God ! when 
1 shall rest in the arms and bosom of my Lord ! when 1 shall 
rest in knowing, loving, rejoicing, and praising I when my 
perfect soul and body together, shall in these perfect actings, 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 287 

perfectly enjoy the most perfect God ! when God also, who is 
love itself, shall perfectly love me ! and rejoice over me with 
joy and singing, as I shall rejoice in him ! How near is that 
most blessed joyful day ! it comes apace ; even ( he that comes 
will come, and will not tarry :' though my Lord seem to delay 
his coming, yet a little while and he will be here : what are a 
few hundred years when they are over? How surely will his 
sign appear! and how suddenly will he seize upon the careless 
world ! Even as the lightning that shines from east to west in 
a moment. He who is gone hence, will even so return : me- 
thinks 1 hear the voice of his foregoers ! Methinks 1 see him in 
the clouds, with the attendance of his angels in majesty and 
glory ! O poor secure sinners, what will you now do ? where 
will you hide yourselves, or what shall cover you? Mountains 
are gone, the earth and heavens that were, are passed away ; 
the devouring fire hath consumed all except yourselves, who 
roust be the fuel for ever : O that you could consume as soon as 
the earth, and melt away as did the heavens ! Ah, these wishes 
are now but vain ; the Lamb himself would have been your 
friend, he would have loved you, and ruled you, and now have 
saved you : but you would not then, and now it is too late : 
never cry, Lord, Lord : too late, too late, man : why dost thou 
look about ? can any save thee? Whither dost thou run? can 
any hide thee ? O wretch, that hast brought thyself to this ! — 
Now blessed are ye that have believed and obeyed ; this is the 
end of your faith and patience ; this is that for which ye prayed 
and waited, do yon now repent your sufferings and sorrows ? 
your self-denying and holy walking ? are your tears of repent- 
ance now bitter or sweet ? O see how the Judge doth smile up- 
on you ! there is love in his looks ; the titles of Redeemer, bus- 
band, head, are written in his amiable face ; hark! doth he 
not call you ? he bids vou stand here on his right hand : fear 
not, for there he sets his sheep : O joyful sentence pronounced 
by his mouth I l Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the 
kingdom prepared for you from the foundations of the world !' 
See how your Saviour takes you by the hand : the door is open : 
the kingdom is his, and therefore yours : there is your place 
before his throne : the Father receiveth you as the spouse of 
his Son, he bids you welcome to the crown of glory : never so 
unworthy, crowned you must be : this was the project of free 
redeeming grace, the purpose of eternal lore. O blessed 



%&& THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

grace I O blessed love ! O the frame that my soul shall then 
be in ! But 1 cannot express it, 1 cannot conceive it ! 

This is that joy which was procured by sorrow ; this is that 
crown which was procured by the cross; my Lord did Veep, 
that now my tears might be wiped away ; he did bleed, that 1 
might now rejoice ; he was forsaken, that I might not now be 
forsaken ; he did then die, that 1 might now live. This weep- 
ing, wounded Lord, shall 1 behold ; this bleeding Saviour shall 
I see, and live in him that died for me. O free mercy that can 
exalt so vile a wretch! free to me, though dear to Christ! 
here must I live with all these saints ! O comfortable meeting 
of my old acquaintance, with whom I prayed, and wept, and 
suffered ; with whom 1 spake of this day and place ! I see the 
grave could not contain you, the sea and earth must give up 
their dead ; the same love hath redeemed and saved you also : 
this is not like our cottages of clay, our prisons, our earthly 
dwellings : this voice of joy is not like our old complainings, 
our groans, our sighs, our impatient moans ; nor this melodious 
praise like our scorns and revilings, nor like the oaths and 
curses which we heard on earth : this body is not like the 
body we had, nor this soul like the soul we had, nor this life 
like the life that then we lived ; we have changed our place, 
we have changed our state, our clothes, our thoughts, our 
looks, our language ; we have changed our company for the 
greater part, and the rest of our company is changed itself; 
before we were weak and despised, but now how glorious ! 
Where are now our different judgments, our divided spirits ? 
INow we are all of one judgment, of one name, of one heart, of 
one house, and of one glory. O sweet reconcilement ! O hap- 
py uoion ! which makes us first to be one with Christ, and then 
one with ourselves ! Now our differences shall be dashed in 
our teeth no more, nor the gospel reproached through our folly. 
O my soul, thou shalt no more lament the sufferings of the 
saints ; never more condole the church's ruins ; never bewail 
thy suffering friends, nor lie wailing over their death beds, or 
their graves : thou shalt never suffer thy old temptations from 
Satan, the world, or thy own flesh ; thy body will no more be 
such a burden to thee ; thy pains and sicknesses are all now 
cured ; thou shalt be troubled with weakness and weariness no 
more ; thy head is not now an aching head, nor thy heart now 
an aching heart ; thy hunger and thirst, and cold and sleep, thy 



THfc SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 289 

Labour and study are all gone. O what a mighty change is this - 
from the dunghill to the throne ; from a body as vile as the 
carrion in the ditch, to a body as bright as the sun in the firma- 
ment! from all my doubts and fears, to this possession which 
hath put me out of doubt! from all my fearful thought of 
death, to this most blessed joyful life ! O what a change is this ! 
farewell sin and suffering for ever; now welcome most holy, 
heavenly nature ; which as it must be employed in beholding 
the face of God, so is it full of God alone ; delighted in nothing 
but him. O who can question the love which he doth so sweet- 
ly taste ? or doubt of that which with such joy he feeleth ? — 
Farewell repentance ? confession and supplication ; farewell 
hope and faith ; and welcome love, and joy, and praise. 1 shall 
now have my harvest without plowing or sowing ; my wine 
without the labour of the vintage ; my joy wiriiout a preacher 
or a promise, even all from the face of God himself* Whatever 
mixture is in the streams, there is nothing but pure joy in the 
fountain. Here shall I be encircled with eternity, and come 
forth no more : here shall I live, and ever live, and praise my 
' Lord, and ever, ever praise him. My face will not wrinkle, 
nor my hair be gery ; but ' this mortal hath put on immortality, 
and this corruptible incorruption, and death is swallowed up in 
victory : O death ! where is thy sting ? O grave ! where is thy 
victory ?' The date of my lease will no more expire, nor shall 
1 lose my joys through fear of losing them. When millions of 
ages are past, my glory is but beginning ; and when millions 
more are past, it is no nearer ending. Every day is all noon- 
tide, and every month is May or harvest, and every year is 
there a jubilee, and every age is full manhood : and all this but 
one eternity. O blessed eternity ! the glory of my glory ! the 
perfection of my perfection ! 

Ah drowsy, earthly, blockish heart, how coolly dost thou 
think of this reviving day ! Dost thou sleep when thou thinnest 
of eternal rest? art thou hanging earthward, when heaven is 
before thee? Hadst thou rather sit thee down in dung, than 
walk in the court of the presence of God ? Dost tbou now re- 
member thy worldly business? Art thou thinking of thy de- 
lights ? Wretched heart ! is it better to be here, than above 
with God ? is the company better ? are the pleasures greater ? 
come away, make no excuse, make no delay ; God commands, 
and 1 command thee, come away ; gird un thy loins ; ascend 
B b 



290 THE EVERLASTING SAINTS REST. 

tbe mount, and look about thee with seriousness and with faith. 
Look thou not back upon the way of the wilderness, except it 
be when thine eyes are dazzled with the glory, or when thou 
wouldst compare the kingdom with that howling desert, that 
thou mayest more sensibly perceive the mighty difference. — 
Fix thine eye upon the sun itself, and look not down to earth as 
long as thou art able to behold it ; except it be to discern more 
easily the brightness of the one by the darkness of the other. 
Yonder is thy Father's Glory : yonder must thou dwell when 
thou leavest this earth ; yonder must thou remove, O my soul, 
when thou departest from this body : and when the power of 
thy Lord hath raised it again, arid joined thee to it, yonder 
must thou live with God for ever. There is the glorious * new 
Jerusalem, the gates of pearl, the foundations of pearl, the 
streets and pavements of transparent gold.' Seest thou that 
sun which lighteth all tbe world ? Why, it must be taken down 
as useless there, or the glory of heaven will darken it, and put 
it out ; even thyself shall be as bright as yonder shining sun ; 
4 God will be the sun, and Christ the light, and in his light shalt 
thou have light.' 

O wretched heart! bath God made thee a promise of rest, 
and wilt thou come short of it, and shut out thyself through un- 
belief? Thine eyes may fail thee, thy ears deceive thee, and 
all thy senses prove delusions, sooner than a promise of God 
can delude thee. Thou mayest be surer of that which is writ- 
ten in the word, than if thou see it with thy eyes, or feel it with 
thy hands. Art thou sure thou livest ? or sure that this is the 
earth which thou standest on ? Art thou sure thine eyes see the 
sun? As sure is all this glory to the saints, as sure shall 1 be 
higher than yonder stars, and live for ever in the holy city, and 
joyfully sound forth the praise of my Redeemer, if 1 be not shut 
out by the i evil heart of unbelief, causing me to depart from 
the living God.' 

And is this rest so sweet, and so sure ? O then, what means 
the careless world ! Do they know what it is they so neglect ? 
Did they ever hear of it? or are they yet asleep? Do they 
know for certain that the crown is before them, while they 
thus sit still, or follow trifles, when they are hasting so fast to 
another world, and their eternal happiness lies at stake ? Were 
there left one spark of reason, they would never sell their rest 
for toil, their glory for worldly vanities. Ah, poor men ! that 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 291 

you would once consider what you hazard, and then you would 
scorn these tempting baits. O blessed for ever be that love, 
that hath rescued me from this mad bewitching darkness! 

Draw nearer yet, O my soul ; bring forth thy strongest love ; 
here is matter for it to work upon : O see what beauty presents 
itself! Is it not exceeding lovely ? Is not all the beauty in the 
world contracted here ? Is not all other beauty deformity to it ? 
Dost thou need to be persuaded now to love ? Here is a feast 
for thine eyes : a feast for all the powers of thy soul : dost thou 
need to be entreated to feed upon it ? Canst thou love a little 
shining earth ? Canst thou lore a walking piece of clay ? And 
canst thou not love that God, that Christ, that glory, which is 
so truly and unmeasureably lovely ? Thou canst love thy friend 
because he loves thee : and is the love of friends like the love 
of Christ? Their weeping or bleeding for thee doth not ease 
thee, nor stay the course of thy tears or blood : but the tears 
and blood that fell from thy Lord, have all a sovereign, healing 
virtue, and are waters of life, and balsam to thy fainting sores. 
O my soul ! if love deserve, and should procure love, what in- 
comprehensible love is here before thee ! Pour out all the store 
of thy affections here : and all is too little. O that it were 
morel JLet him be first served, that served thee first: let him 
have the strength of thy love, who parted with strength and life 
in love to thee: if thou hast any to spare when he hath his 
part, let it be imparted then to standers by. See what a sea of 
love is here before thee : cast thyself into this ocean of his 
love : fear not, though it seems a furnace of fire, and the hottest 
that was ever kindled upon earth, yet it is the fire of love and 
not of wrath ; a fire most effectual to extinguish fire ; never 
intended to consume, but to glorify thee: venture into it then 
in thy believing meditations, and walk in these flames with the 
Son of God : when thou art once in, thou wilt be sorry to come 
forth again. O my soul ! what wantest thou here to provoke 
thy love? Dost thou love for excellency? Why thou seest 
nothing below but baseness, except as they relate to thy enjoy- 
ments above. Yonder is the Goshen, the region of light : this 
is a land of palpable darkness. Yonder stars, that shining 
moon, the radiant sun, are all but as the lanthorns hanged out 
at thy Father's house to light thee while thou walkest in the 
dark streets of the earth : but little dost thou know the glory 
that is within ! Dost thou love for suitableness ? Why what 



292 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST, 

person more suitable than Christ? his godhead, his manhood, 
his fulness, his freeness, his willingness, his constancy ; do all 
proclaim him thy most suitable friend. What state more suit- 
able to thy misery than that of mercy ? Or to thy sinfulness 
and baseness, than that of honour and perfection? What place 
more suitable to thee than heaven ? Thou hast had a sufficient 
trial of this world : dost thou find it agree with thy nature or 
desires ? Are these common abominations, these heavy suffer- 
ings, these unsatisfying vanities, suitable to thee ? Or dost thou 
love for interest and near relation ? Where hast thou better 
interest than in heaven ? or where hast thou nearer relation 
than there/? Dost thou love for acquaintance and familiarity ! 
Why though thine eyes have never seen the Lord, yet he is 
never the further from thee. If thy son were blind, yet he 
would love thee his father, though he never saw thee. Thou 
hast heard the voice of Christ to thy very heart* thou hast re- 
ceived his benefits : thou hast lived in his bosom, and art tbou 
not yet acquainted with him ? It is he that brought thee season- 
ably and safely into the world : it is he that nursed thee in 
thy tender infancy, and helped thee when thou couldst not 
help thyself : he taught thee to go, to speak, to read, to under- 
stand : he taught thee to know thyself and him : he opened 
thee that first window whereby thou sawest into heaven : hast 
thou forgotten since thy heart was careless, and he did quick- 
en it, and make it yield ? When it was at peace, and he did 
trouble it? And broken, till he did heal it again? Hast thou 
forgotten the time, nay, the many times when he found thee 
in secret, all in tears ; when he heard thy sighs and groans, 
and left all to come and comfort thee ? When he came in up- 
on thee, and took thee up, as it were, in his arms, and asked 
thee, poor soul, what aileth thee ? Dost thou weep when I 
have wept so much ? Be of good cheer, thy wounds are saving 
and not deadly. It is I that have made them, who mean thee 
no hurt ; though 1 let out thy blood, 1 will not let out thy life. 
Methinks I remember yet his voice, and feel those arms that 
took me up : how gently did he handle me ! How carefully did 
he dress my wounds, and bind them up ! Methinks I hear him 
still saying, though thou hast dealt unkindly with me, yet will 
not 1 do so by thee ; though thou hast set light by me, and all 
my mercies ; yet both 1 and all are thine : what wouldst tbou 
have, that I cannot give tbee ? and what dost thou want, that 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 293 

I cannot give thee ? If any thing in heaven and earth will 
make thee happy, it is all thine own : wouldst thou have par- 
don ? thou shalt have it. 1 freely forgive thee all the debt : 
wouldst thou have grace and peace ? thou shalt have them 
both : wouldst thou have myself ? behold I am thine, thy 
friend, thy Lord, thy husband, and thy head : wouldst thou 
have the Father ? 1 will briDg thee to him ; and thou shalt have 
him in and by me — These were my Lord's reviving words ; 
these were the melting, healing, quickening passages of love. 
After all this, when I was doubtful of his love, methinks I yet 
remember his convincing arguments. — Have 1 done so much 
to testify my love, and yet dost thou doubt ? Have I made thy 
believing it the condition of enjoying it, and yet dost thou 
doubt ? Have 1 offered thee myself so long, and yet dost thou 
question my willingness to be thine ? What could I have done 
more than I have done ? At what dearer rate should 1 tell thee 
that 1 love thee ? Read the story of my bitter passion, wilt thou 
not believe that it proceeded from love ? Did I ever give thee 
cause to be so jealous of me ? or to think so hardly of me as 
thou dost ? Have I made myself in the gospel a lion to thine 
enemies, and a lamb to thee ; and dost thou so overlook my 
lamb-like nature ? Have I set mine arms and heart there open 
to thee, and wilt thou not believe but they are shut ? If I had 
been willing to let thee perish, 1 could have done it at a cheap- 
er rate : what need I follow thee with so long patience, and en- 
treating ? What, dost thou tell me of thy wants ; have I not 
enough for me and thee ? and why dost thou tell me of thy un- 
worthiness, and thy sin ? I had not died, if man had not sinned : 
if thou wert not a sinner, thou wert not for me ; if thou wert 
worthy thyself, what sbouldst thou do with my worthiness ? 
Did I ever invite the worthy and righteous ? or did I ever save 
or justify such ? or is there any such on earth ? Hast thou 
nothing ? art thou lost and miserable ? art thou helpless and 
forlorn ? dost thou believe that 1 am a sufficient Saviour . ? and 
wouldst thou have me ? why then take me. Lo, 1 am thine ; 
if thou be willing, 1 am willing, and neither sin nor devils shall 
break the match. 

These, O these were the blessed words which his Spirit from 

his gospel spoke unto me, till he made me cast myself at his 

feet, yea, into his arms, and cry out, * My Saviour and my 

Lord, thou hast broke my heart, thou hast revived my heart, 

b b 2 



204 THE SAIKTS EVERLASTING RESTc 

thou hast overcome, thou hast won my heart ; take it, it is thine I 
if such an heart can please thee, take it : if it cannot, make it 
as thou wouldst have it.' 

Thus, O my soul, mayest thou remember the sweet famil- 
iarity thou hast had with Christ ; therefore if acquaintance 
will cause affection, O then knit thy heart unto him ; it is he 
that hath stood by thy bed of sickness, that hath cooled thy 
heats, and eased thy pains, and refreshed thy weariness, and 
removed thy fears : he hath been always ready, when thou 
hast earnestly sought him : he hath given thee the meeting in 
public and in private ; he hath been found of thee in the con- 
gregation, in thy house, in thy chamber, in the field, in the 
way as thou wast walking, in thy waking nights, in thy deepest 
dangers. If bounty and compassion be an attractive of love, 
how unmeasurably then am 1 bound to love him ! All the mer- 
cies that have filled up my life tell me this ! all the places that 
ever I did abide in, every condition of life that I have passed 
through, all my employments, and all my relations, every 
change that hath befallen me, all tell me, that the fountain is 
overflowing goodness. 

Lord, what a sum of love am 1 indebted to thee, and how 
doth my debt continually increase ! How should 1 love again 
for so much love ! But what ! shall 1 dare to think of making 
thee requital, or of recompensing all thy love with mine ? Will 
my mite requite thee for thy golden mines? or mine, which is 
nothing, or not mine, for thine which is infinite and thine own ? 
Shall I dare to contend in love with thee ? or set my borrowed 
spark against the sum of love ? Can I love as high, as deep, as 
broad, as long as love itself; as much as he that made me, and 
that made me live, that gave me all that little which I have ? 
Both the heart, the fire, the fuel, and all were his : as I cannot 
match thee in the works of thy power, nor make, nor preserve, 
nor guide the world ; so why should I think any more of match- 
ing thee in love ? no, Lord, I yield, 1 am overcome; O blessed 
conquest! go on victoriously, and still prevail, and triumph 
in thy love ; the captive of love shall proclaim thy victory, 
when thou leadest me in triumph from earth to heaven, from 
death to life, from the tribunal to the throne, myself, and all 
that see it, shall acknowledge that thou hast prevailed, and all 
shall say, * Behold how he loved him V — Yet let me love thee, 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST, 295 

in subjection to thy love as thy redeemed captive, though I can- 
not reach thy measure. 

O, my soul, begin it here ; be sick of love now, that thou 
mayest be well with love there : ' Keep thyself now in the love 
of God,' and let neither life nor death, nor any thing separate 
thee from it, and thou shalt be kept in the fullness of love for 
ever ; for the Lord hath prepared a city of love, a place for the 
communicating of love to his chosen, and those that love his 
name shall dwell there. 

Away then, O my drowsy soul, from this world's uncomfort- 
able darkness ! The night of thy ignorance and misery is past, 
the day of glorious light is at hand; this is the day- break be* 
twixt them both : though thou see not yet the sun itself appear, 
me thinks the twilight of promise should revive thee ! Come 1 
forth then, and leave these earthly cells, and hear thy Lord 
that bids thee rejoice, and again rejoice ! Thou hast lain here 
long enough in thy prison of flesh, where satan hath been thy 
gaoler, where cares have been thy irons : and fears thy scourge, 
and the bread and water of affliction thy food : where sorrows 
have been thy lodging, and a carnal, hard, unbelieving heart 
the iron gates and bars that have kept thee in, that thou couldst 
scarce have leave to look through the lattices, and see one 
glimpse of the immortal light : the angel of the covenant now 
calls thee, and strikes thee, and bids thee arise and follow him : 
up, O my soul, and cheerfully obey, and thy bolts and bars 
shall all fly open ; do thou obey, and all will obey ; follow the 
Lamb which way soever he leads thee : art thou afraid, be- 
cause thou knowest not whilher ? Can the place be worse than 
where thou art? Shouldst thou fear to follow such a guide? 
Can the sun lead thee to a state of darkness ? Or can he mis- 
lead thee that * is the light that lighteth every man that cometh 
into the world ?' Will he lead thee to death, who died to save 
thee from it? Or can he do thee any hurt, who for thy sake did 
suffer so much ? Follow him, and he will shew thee the paradise 
of God, he will give thee a sight of the New Jerusalem, he will 
give thee a taste of the tree of life : thy winter is past, and wilt 
thou house thyself still in earthly thoughts ; and confine thy- 
self to drooping and dulness ? 

Come forth, O my drooping soul, and lay aside thy winter, 
mourning robes ; let it be seen in thy believing joys and praise, 
that the day is appearing, and the spring is come ; and as now 



296 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

thou seest thy comforts green, thou shalt shortly see them white 
and ripe for harvest; and then thou, who art now called forth 
to see and taste, shall be called forth to reap, and gather, and 
take possession. Shall I suspend and delay my joys till then ? 
Should not the joys of the spring go before the joys of harvest ? 
Is the heir in no better a state than the slave ? My Lord hath 
taught me to rejxrice in the hope of his glory, and to see it 
through the bars of a prison, and even when I am ' persecuted 
for righteousness sake,' when 1 am ' reviled and all manner of 
evil said against me for his sake,' then he hath commanded me 
' to rejoice and be exceeding glad, because of this my great re- 
ward in heaven.' How justly is an unbelieving heart possessed 
by sorrow, and made a prey to cares and fears, when itself doth 
create them, and thrust away its offered peace and joy ! I know 
it is the pleasure of my bounteous Lord, that none of his family 
should want comfort, nor live such a poor and miserable life, 
nor look with such a famished dejected face. 1 know he would 
have my joys exceed my sorrows ; and as much as he delights 
in the humble and contrite, yet doth he more delight in the 
soul as it delighteth in him. Hath my Lord spread me a table 
in this wilderness, and furnished it with promises of everlasting 
glory, and set before me angels' food, and broached for me the 
side of his beloved Son, that I might have a better wine than 
the blood of the grape ? Doth he so importunately invite me to 
sit down, and draw forth my faith, and feed, and spare not ? 
Nay, hath he furnished me to that end with reason and faith, 
and a rejoicing disposition ? And yet is it possible that he 
should be unwilling I should rejoice ? Never think it, O my un- 
believing soul : nor dare charge him with thy uncomfortable 
heaviness, who offereth thee the foretastes of the highest de- 
light that heaven can afford, and God can bestow. Doth he 
not bid thee ' delight thyself in the Lord?' and promise to give 
thee ' the desires of thy heart?' Hath he not charged thee * to 
rejoice evermore ?' Yea, '"to sing aloud, and shout for joy ?' 

Away you cares and fears ! away you importunate sorrows ! 
stay here below, whilst I go up and see my rest. The way is 
strange to me, but not to Christ. There was the eternal dwell- 
ing of his glorious Deity ; and thither hath he also brought his 
glorified flesh. It was his work to purchase it; it is his work 
to prepare it, and to prepare me for it, and to bring me to it. 
The eternal God of truth hath given rae his promise, his seal. 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 297 

and his oath, to assure me, that ' believing in Christ I shall 
not perish, but have everlasting life:' thither shall my soul 
be speedily removed, and my body shortly follow. And can 
my tongue say, that I shall shortly and surely live with 
God, and yet my heart not leap within me ? Can I say it be- 
lievingly, and not rejoicingly ? Ah faith ! how do 1 perceive thy 
weakness ? ah unbelief! if I had never known it before, how 
sensibly do I now perceive thy malicious tyranny ? But were 
it not for thee, what abundance might 1 have ? The light of 
heaven would shine into my heart, and I might be as familiar 
4 here as I am on earth. 

Come away my soul then, stand not looking on that grave, 
nor turning those bones, nor reading thy lesson in the dust ; 
those lines will soon be wiped out : but lift up thy head and 
look to heaven, and read thy instructions in those fixed stars : 
or yet look higher than those eyes can see, into that foundation 
which standeth sure, and see thy name written in the book of 
life. What if an angel should come from heaven and tell 
thee, that there is a mansion prepared for thee : that it shall 
certainly be thine own, and thou shalt possess it for ever ; would 
not such a message make thee glad ? and dost thou make light 
of the infallible word of promises which were delivered by the 
Spirit, and by the Lord himself? 

What delight have 1 found in my private studies, especially 
when they have prospered to the increase of knowledge I Me- 
thinks I could bid the world farewell, and immure myself 
among my books, and look forth no more, (were it a lawful 
course) but shut the door upon me, and among those divine 
souls employ myself in sweet content, and pity the rich and 
great ones that know not happiness. Sure then it is a high 
delight indeed, which in the lap of eternity is enjoyed ! 

If the queen of Sheba came from Ethiopia to hear the wis- 
dom of Solomon, and see his glory ; O how gladly should I pass 
from earth to heaven, to see the glory of that eternal majesty : 
and to attain myself that height of wisdom, in comparison of 
which, the most learned on earth are but fools and idiots ! If 
the heaven of glass which the Persian emperor framed, were so 
glorious a piece, and the heaven of silver which the emperor 
Ferdinand sent to the great Turk, because of their rare arti- 
ficial representations and motions, what will the heaven of 
heavens be, which is not formed by the art of man, or beauti* 



298 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING JIEST 

fied like these childish toys, but it is the matchless palace of 
the great King, built by himself for the residence of his glory, 
and the perpetual entertainment of his beloved saints ! 

1 cannot here enjoy my parents, or my beloved friends with- 
out some delight ; what will it then be to live in the perpetual 
love of God ! For brethren here to live together in unity, how 
good and pleasant a thing is it ! To see a family live in love : 
husbands, wives, parents, children, servants, doing all in love 
to one another ! O then, what a blessed society will be the 
family of heaven, and those peaceable inhabitants of the New 
Jerusalem ! Where is no division, nor disaffection, nor strange- 
ness, nor deceitful friendship ; never an angry thought or look, 
never an unkind expression, but all one in Christ, who is one 
with the Father, and live in the love of love himself. 

Awake then, O my drowsy soul, and look above this world 
of sorrow ! Hast thou borne the yoke of afflictions from thy 
youth, and so long felt the smarting rod, and yet canst no bet- 
ter understand its meaning ? Is not every stroke to drive thee 
hence ? and is not the voice like that to Elijah, * what dost 
thou here ? up and away.' Dost thou forget that sure predic- 
tion of the Lord, c In the world ye shall have trouble, but in 
me ye shall have peace.' The first thou hast found true by 
long experience ; and of the latter thou hast had a small fore- 
taste ; but the perfect peace is yet before* which till it be 
enjoyed cannot be clearly understood. 

Ah, my Lord, 1 feel thy meaning ; it is written in my flesh ; 
it is engraven in my bones : my heart thou aimest at; thy rod 
doth drive, thy silkeu cord of love doth draw ; and all to bring 
it to thyself: can such a heart be worth thy having? Make it 
so, Lord, and then it is thine : take it to thyself, and then take 
me. I can but reach it towards thee, and not unto thee : I am 
too low ; and it is too dull : this clod hath life to stir, but not 
to rise : as the feeble child to the tender mother, it looketh up 
to thee, and stretcheth out the hands, and fain would have 
thee take it up* Indeed, Lord, my soul is in a strait, and what 
to choose I know not, but thou knowest what to give ; to de- 
part and be with thee, is best ; but yet to be in the flesh seems 
needful. Thou knowest 1 am not weary of thy work ; I am 
willing to stay while thou wilt here employ mej and to dispatch 
the work which thou hast put in my hands ; but 1 beseech 
thee stay no longer when this is done; and while I must be 



THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 299 

here, let me be still amending and ascending ; make me still 
better, and take me at the best. 1 dare not be so impatient 
of living, as to importune thee to cut off my time, and urge 
thee to snatch me hence : nor yet would 1 stay when my work 
is done ; and remain under thy feet, while they are in thy bo- 
som : 1 am thy child as well as they ; Christ is my head as well 
as theirs : why is there then so great a distance I I acknowl- 
edge the equity of thy ways ; though we are all children, yet 
I am the prodigal, and therefore meeterin this remote country 
to feed on husks, while they are always with thee, and possess 
thy glory : but they were once in my condition, and I shall 
shortly be in theirs : they were of the lowest form before they 
came to the highest ; they suffered before they reigned ; they 
came out of great tribulation, who now are standing before 
thy throne : and shall not I be content to come to the crown 
as they did ? and to drink of their cup before 1 sit with them in 
the kingdom ? I am contented, O my Lord, to stay thy time, 
and go thy way, so thou wilt exalt me also in thy season, and 
take me into thy barn when thou seest me ripe. In the mean- 
time I may desire, though 1 am not to repine ; I may believe 
and wish, though not make sinful haste; 1 am content to wait, 
but not to lose thee : and when thou seest me too contented 
with thine absence, quicken then my dull desires, and blow- 
up the dying spark of love : and leave me not till 1 am able un« 
feignedly to cry out, * As the hart panteth after the brooks, and 
the dry land thirsteth for water-streams, so thirsteth my soul 
after thee, O God : when shall 1 come and appear before the 
living God V What interest hath this empty world in me ! and 
what is there in it that may seem so lovely, as to entice my de- 
sires and delight from thee, or to make me loth to come away ? 
Draw forth my soul to thyself by the secret power of thy love 
as the sun -shine in the spring draws forth the creatures from 
their winter-cells ; meet it half way, and entice it to thee, as 
the loadstone doth the iron : dispel the clouds that hide from 
me thy love, or remove the scales that hinder mine eyes from 
beholding thee : for only the beams that stream from thy face, 
and the taste of thy salvation, can make a soul unfeignedly say 
* Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace.' 

Send forth thy convoy of angels for my departing soul, and 
let them bring it among the perfect spirits of the just, and let 
me follow my dear friends that have died in Christ before ; and 



300 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

when m^ friends are crying over my grave, let my spirit be re- 
posed with thee in rest, and when my corpse shall lie there rot- 
ting in the dark, let my soul be in the inheritance of the saints 
in light. AndO thou that numberest the hairs of my head, num- 
ber all the days that my body lies in the dust ; thou that wri- 
test all my members in thy book, keep an account of all my 
scattered bones ; and hasten, O my Saviour, the time of my re- 
turn; send forth thine angels, and let that dreadful,- joyful 
trumpet sound ; delay not, lest the living give up their hopes ; 
delay not, lest earth should grow like hell, and lest thy church 
by divisions be crurabied to dust ; delay not, lest thine enemies 
get advantage of thy flock, and lest pride and hypocrisy, and 
sensuality, and unbelief, should prevail against thy little rem- 
nant, and share among them thy whole inheritance, and when 
thou comest thou find not faith on the earth ; delay not, lest the 
grave should boast of victory, and refuse to deliver up thy due. 

hasten that great resurrection day ! when thy command shall 
go forth, and none shall disobey ; when the sea and earth shall 
yield up their hostages, and all that sleep in the grave shall 
awake, and the dead in Christ shall first arise ; when the seed 
that thou sowedst corruptible, shall come forth incorruptible : 
and graves that received but rottenness, and retained but dust, 
shall return thee glorious stars and suns : therefore dare I lay 
down my carcase in the dust, entrusting it not to a grave, but 
to thee, and therefore my flesh shall rest in hope, till thou raise 
it to the everlasting rest. Return, O Lord, how long ! O let 
thy kingdom come ! thy desolate bride saith come ; for thy Spir- 
it within her saith come, who teacheth her thus to pray with 
groanings which cannot be expressed : the whole creation saith 
come, waiting to be delivered from the bondage of corruption 
into the glorious liberty of the sons of God : thyself hath said 3 

1 Surely 1 come, amen, even so, come, Lord Jesus.' 



<THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST, 301 



THE CONCLUSION. 

Thus, reader, 1 have giren thee my best advice for the at- 
taining and maintaining an heavenly conversation. The man- 
ner is imperfect, and too much my own : but for the main mat- 
ter, I received it from God. From him I deliver it thee, and 
his charge 1 lay upon thee, that thou entertain and practise it. 
If thou canst not do it fully, do it as thou canst : only be sure 
thou do it seriously and frequently. If thou wilt believe a 
man that hath made some small trial of it, thou shalt find it will 
make thee another man, and elevate thy soul, and clear thy 
understanding, and leave a pleasant savour upon thy heart ; so 
that thy own experience will make thee confess, that one hour 
thus spent will more effectually revive thee, than many in bare 
external duties ; and a day in these contemplations will afford 
thee truer content, than all the glory and riches of the earth. 
Be acquainted with this work, and thou wilt be acquainted 
with God : thy joys will be spiritual and lasting ; thou wilt 
have comfort in life, and comfort in death ; when thou hast 
neither wealth nor health, nor the pleasures of this world, yet 
wilt thou have comfort ; comfort without the presence or help 
of any friend, without a minister, without a book, when all 
means are denied thee, or taken from thee, yet mayest thou 
have vigorous, real comfort. Thy graces will be active and 
victorious ; and the daily joy which is thus fetched from heav- 
en, will be thy strength : thou wilt be as one that standeth on 
the top of an exceeding high mountain ; he looks down on the 
world as if it were quite below him ; how small do the fields, 
and woods, and countries seem to him? cities and towns seem 
but little spots. Thus despicably wilt thou look on all things 
here below : the greatest princes will seem but as grasshop- 
pers, and the busy, contentious, covetous world, but as heaps 
of ants. Men's threatenings will be no terror to thee ; nor the 
honours of this world any strong enticement ; temptations will 
be harmless, as having lost their strength ; and afflictions less 
grievous, as having lost their sting ; and every mercy will be 
better known and relished. 

Reader, it is (under God) in thy own choice now, whether 
thou wilt live this blessed life or not; and whether all these 
pains which I have taken for thee, shall prosper or be lost. If 
c c 



302 THE SAINTS ETERLASTIffG REST* 

it be lost through thy laziness, (wbieh God forbid) thou wilt 
prove the greater loser thyself. 

O man, what hast thou to mind, but God and heaven ? art 
thou not almost out of this world already ? dost thou not look 
every da}', when one disease or other will let out thy soul: 
doth not the bier stand ready to carry thee to the grave ? and 
the worms wait to feed upon thy face and heart ? what if thy 
pulse must beat a few strokes more ? and what if thou hast a 
few more breaths to fetch, before thou breathe thy last ? and 
what if thou hast a few more nights to sleep, before thou sleep 
in the dust ? Alas, what will this be, when it is gone ? and is it 
not almost gone already ? Shortly thou wilt see thy glass run 
out, and say thyself, my life is done ! my time is gone ! there 
is nothing now, but heaven or hell : where then should thy 
heart be now, but in heaven ? Didst thou but know what a 
dreadful thing it is to have a doubt of heaven, when a man 
lies dying, it would rouse thee up. 

O what a life might men live, if they were but willing and 
diligent ! God would have our joys to be far more than our sor- 
rows ; yea, he would have us to have no sorrow, but what 
tendeth to joy : and no more than our sins have made neces- 
sary for our good. How much do those christians wrong 
God and themselves, that either make their thoughts of God 
(he inlet of their sorrows, or let these offered joys lie by, 
as neglected or forgotten ! Some there be that say, it is not 
worth so much time and trouble, to think of the greatness of 
the joys above. But as these men obey not the command of 
God, which requireth them to have their affections on things 
above ; so do they wilfully make their own lives miserable, by 
refusing the delights that God hath set before them. And yet 
if this were all, it were a smaller matter ; if it were but loss of 
their comforts, 1 would not say much : but see what abundance 
of other mischiefs follow the absence of these heavenly de- 
lights. 

First, It will damp, if not destroy, our very love to God ; so 
deeply as we apprehend his exceeding love to us, and his pur- 
pose to make us eternally happy, so much will it raise our love r 
love to God and delight in him, are still conjunct. They that 
conceive of God as one that desireth their blood and damnation, 
cannot heartily love him. 

Secondly, it will make us have rare and unpleasing thoughts 
of God ; for our thoughts will follow oar love and delight. Did 



T!f£ SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 303 

we more delight in God than in any thing below, our thoughts 
would as freely run after him, as they now run from him. 

Thirdly, And it will make men have as rare and unpleasing 
speech of God ; for who will care for talking of that which he 
bath no delight in ? What makes men still talking of worldli- 
ness or wickedness, but that these are more pleasant to them 
than God ? 

Fourthly, Men will have no delight in the service of God, 
when they have no delight in God, nor any sweet thoughts of 
heaven, which is the end of their services. No wander if such 
christians complain, that they are still backward to duty; that 
they have no delight in prayer, in sacraments, or in scripture it- 
self: if thou couldst once delight in God, thou wouldst easily 
delight in duty ; especially that which bringeth thee into the 
nearest converse with him ; but till then, no wonder if thou be 
weary of all. 

Fifthly, This want of heavenly delight will leave men under 
the power of every affliction ; they will have nothing to comfort 
them, and ease them in their sufferings, but the empty, inef- 
fectual pleasures of the flesh : and when that is gone, where 
then is their delight ? 

Sixthly, It will make them fearful and unwilling to die : for 
who would go to a God, or a place that he hath no delight in ? 
Or who would leave his pleasure here, except it were to go to 
better? but if men take delight in God whilst they live, they 
will not tremble at the tidings of death. 

If God would persuade you now to make conscience of this 
duty, and help you in it by the blessed influence of his Spirit, 
you would not change your lives with the greatest prince on 
earth. But I am afraid, if 1 may judge of your hearts by the 
backwardness of my own, that it will prove a hard i x >'.ng to per- 
suade you to the work. Pardon my jealousy ; it is raised upon 
too many and sad experiments. What say you ? Do y ou resolve 
on this heavenly course or no ? Will you let go all your sinful 
pleasures, and daily seek these higher delights? 1 pray thee, 
reader, consider of it, and resolve on the work before thou goest 
further. Let thy family perceive, let thy neighbours perceive, 
let thy conscience perceive, yea, let God perceive it, that thou 
art a man that hast thy conversation in heaven. God hath now 
offered to be thy daily delight ; thy neglect is thy refusal.— 
Take heed what thou dost : refuse this, and refuse all : thou 
must have heavenly delights, or none that are lasting. God 



304 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 

is willing thou shouldst daily walk with him, and fetch in cod 
solation from the everlasting fountain : if thou be unwilling, 
bear the loss ; and when thou liest dying, then seek for com- 
fort where thou canst. O how is the unseen God neglected, 
and the unseen glory forgotten ! and all for want of that ' faith 
which is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of 
things that are not seen.' 

But for you whose hearts God hath weaned from all things 
here below, I hope you will fetch one walk daily in the New 
Jerusalem ! God is your love, and your desire ; and I know you 
would fain be more acquainted with your Saviour, and 1 know 
it is your grief that your hearts are not more near him ; and 
that they do not more passionately love and delight in him. As 
ever you would enjoy your desires, try this life of meditation 
on your everlasting rest. 

O thou, the merciful Father of spirits, the attractive of love, 
and ocean of delights, draw up these drossy hearts unto thyself, 
and keep them there till they are spiritualized and refined, 
and second these thy servant's weak endeavours, and persuade 
those that read these lines, to the practice of this delightful, 
heavenly work. O suffer not the soul of thy most unworthy 
servant to be a stranger to those joys which he unfoldeth to thy 
people, or to be seldom in that way which he hath marked out 
to others ; but O keep me while 1 tarry on this earth, in daily, 
serious breathings after thee, and in a believing, affectionate 
walking with thee ; and when thou comest, O let me be found 
so doing, not hiding my talent, nor serving my flesh, nor yet 
asleep, with my lamp unfurnished, but waiting and longing for 
my Lord's return : that those who shall read these directions, 
may not reap only the fruit of my studies, but the breathings 
of my active hope and love ; that if my heart were open to their 
view, they might there read the same most deeply engraven 
with a beam from the face of the Son of God ; and not find 
vanity or lust, or pride within, where the words of life appear 
without ; that so these lines may not witness against me : but pro- 
ceeding from the heart of the writer, may be effectual through 
thy grace upon the heart of the reader, and so be the savour of 
life to both. 

GLORY BE TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST : ON EARTH PEACE : GOOD- 
WILL TOWARDS MEN. 



CONTENTS. 



The Saints Everlasting Rest 



Chap. PART I. Page 

I. This Rest defined , 7 

II. What this Rest pre-supposeth , 11 

III. What this Rest contained ..... 14 

IV. The four great preparations to our Rest . . 25 

V. The Excellencies of our Rest .... 30 

VI. The People of God described .... 56 
The Conclusion €5 

PART II. 

I. The inconceivable Misery of the ungodly in their 

Loss of this Rest . 67 

II. The Aggravation of the Loss of Heaven to the Un- 

godly 72 

III. They shall lose all Things comfortable as well as 

Heaven 83 

IV. The Greatness of the Torments of the Damned dis- 

covered 88 

V. The second Use. Reprehending (he general Neglect 

of this Rest, and exciting to Diligence in seek- 
ing it 98 

VI. An Exhortation to Seriousness in seeking Rest 107 

VII. The third Use. Persuading all Men to try their 

Titles to this Rest ; and directing them how to 

try, that they may know 125 

VIII. Further Causes of Doubting among Christians 134 

IX. Containing Directions for Examination, and some 

Marks of trial. . 188 

X. The Reason of the Saints Afflictions here . . 142 



Contents. 

XI. An Exhortation to those that have got Assurance of 

this Rest, that they would do all they possibly can 
to help others to it . . ... 149 

XII. An Advice to some more particularly to help others 

to this Rest 176 

PART 111. 

I. Reproving our expectations of Rest on Earth . 201 

II. Motives to Heaveniy-mindedness . . . 210 

III. Containing some Hiaderances of Heavenly -Mind- 

edness 227 

IV. Some general Helps to Heaveniy-mindedness 236 

V. A Description of Heavenly Contemplation . . 244 

VI. The fittest Time and Place for this Contemplation, 

and the Preparation of the deart unto it . • 250 

VII. What Affections must be acted, and by what Con- 

siderations, and Objects, and in what Order • 258 

VIII. Some Advantages and Helps for raising the Soul by 

Meditation 970 

IX. How to manage and watch over the Heart through 

the whole Work 281 

X. An Example of this Heavenly Contemplation, for 

the Help of the Unskilful 286 

The Conclusion 301 



LIST OF BOOKS. 



The following BOOKS are published under the patronage and 
for the use of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and to be had 
of N. Bangs and T. Mason, JVb. 5 Chatham- square, JYeto- 
York ; Superintendents of the Book Business for the said 
Church, and of the Ministers and Preachers in their several 
Circuits. 

Coke's Commentary on the New-Testament, 2 vols. 

quarto, $20 

Wesley's Notes on do. 1 vol. octavo, 3 

Quarto Bibles, 5 

Wesley's Sermons, a new edition, 3 vols, octavo, . 7 

Fletcher's Checks, a new edition 4 vols, octavo, . 7 50 

Wood's Dictionary of the Bible, 2 vols, ... 5 

Priedaux's Connections, 4 vols, octavo, neatly bound, 12 

Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, do. do. . . 12 
Harmer's Observations, 4 volar, octavo, by Adam 

Clarke, L. L. D 10 

Bishop Asbury's Journal, 3 vol. .... 6 

Buck's Theological Dictionary, 3 

Methodist Magazine, 1st. 2nd. and 3d. vols, each . 2 
Pocket Bibles and Testaments. 

Benson's Sermons, 1 vol. octavo, .... 2 
Life of the Rev. Thomas Coke, L. L. D. neatly bound 

and lettered with an engraving, ... 2 

Smith's Lectures on the sacred Office, octavo, . 1 75 

Reformer Reformed, 1 25 

Wesley on Original Sin, 1 

Benson's Life of Fletcher, second edition enlarged, 2 

Portraiture of Methodism, 1 

The Saints Everlasting Rest, 1 

Reformed Pastor, 1 

Methodist Hymns, two hooks bound together, . 87j 

Experience and letters of Hester Ann Rogers. • 75 

Law's Serious call to a holy Life ... 75 

Doctrinal Tracts, 75 



LIST OF BOOKS. 

Fletcher's Appeal to Matter of Fact and Common Sense, 75 

Introduction to Christianity, 75 

The doctrine of Universal Restoration examined and re- 
futed, by D. Isaac, 75 

Preachers Manual. 75 

Alleine's Alarm and Baxter's Call, lettered. . . 62J 

Family Adviser and Primitive Physic, do. . . 62J 

Sellon's Arguments on General Redemption, . . 50 

Predestination Examined, 50 

Religion recommended to Youth, in a series of Letters 

and Poems, by C. M. Thayer, .... 50 

Memoirs of Mrs. Mary Cooper, .... 62 J 

Causes, Evils, and Cures of Heart and Church Divisions, 50 

A Vindication of Methodist Episcopacy, ... 50 

Methodist Discipline, 37J 

Extract from John Nelson's Journal, . . . 37J 

A Plea for the Divinity of Christ, .... 37 J 

Confessions of James Lackington, .... 25 

Thomas a Kempis, or Christian's Pattern, . . 37J 

Mrs. Rowe's Devout Exercises, abridged, . 3H 
A Sermon on Salvation by Faith, by Adam Clarke, L. L. D. 12 j 

Letters on Baptism, 12 J 

History of Jesus, 12J 

Sermon on the Divinity of Christ, .... 183 

A Scriptural Catechism, ...... 6i 

Essay on Secret Prayer, ...... 6J 

Instructions for Children, 6j 

Tokens for Children, 64 

Love-feast tickets, per thousand, .... ] 

As the profits of the above-mentioned Books are for the ben- 
efit of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and to be applied to re- 
ligious purposes, it is recommended to the Ministers and Mem- 
bers of the Church to promote the sale of the said Books, and 
not to purchase any Books which we publish, of any other per- 
sons than the aforesaid N. Bangs, and T. Mason, and the 
Methodist Ministers and Preachers, or such persons as sell 
them by their consent. 



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